who I am, what I did, where I'm coming from

my skills : marketing 2.0, Social Media, business development, Internet & e-business (marketing side), strategy, products and services marketing, team management – strong international competencies

My name is Yann Gourvennec, I am what I call a serial intrepreneur (no, this isn't a typo, but the subject of my October 2011 Like Minds presentation in October 2011 in Exeter, England), a reputation which I earned throughout the years, in the field, thanks to the design and deployment of a number of innovative projects within large or very large international and complex organisations. I am an implementor rather than an inventor; I believe in the power of execution and I have a track record in change management in various organisations, large and small, national and international.

download a short biography and/or access my biopics

[left: photo by Harry Duns at harryduns.com]

innovations I have been part of

My first project was about the digitalisation of the Unisys pricelists in 1988. I then designed and deployed one of the first CRM systems worldwide across the European, APAC and South American salesforce of Unisys between 1992 and 1995. As an Internet Marketing consultant, I delivered my first business intelligence proposal in 1995. 1995 is also the year in which I launched my first Internet website (partial history click here), prior to creating http://Internet-banking.com (partial history click here) on behalf of Unisys in 1996 in London.

My first e-commerce website was set up in 1996. I then sold thousands of unified messaging boxes online on behalf of Wanadoo (now Orange) as soon as 1996 (partial history click here). I pioneered the WebTV in 2000, launched web conferencing on behalf of France Telecom with WebEx in 2001 (a start-up by then), created my first professional blogs towards the end of 2004, wrote my first recommendation regarding Web 2.0 within the enterprise world towards the midst of 2007, initiated, launched and structured expert blogging and Social Media within Orange Business Services in 2008 and placed Orange Business Services as the 6th French brand on Twitter (April 2010, 01.net).

Social Media events and associations

I joined Andy Sernovitz's SMBC (now socialmedia.org) at the beginning of 2008 and created Media Aces with Hervé Kabla in 2009. I speak at international events like, the digital marketing forum in Budapest in 2009, Blogwell in Atlanta in November 2009, Likeminds in Exeter in 2010, The Ragan Social Summit in San Jose in June 2010, Media Aces in Paris (2009-2011), the CMO Exchange in London, in July 2011, Like Minds 2011 in Exeter, Tunis 2.0 (Oct 2011) in Tunisia (Oct 2011) and the iStrategy conference in Amsterdam (Oct 2011).

publishing, evangelising, implementing ...

I was a regular contributor to bnet UK until its demise in 2009 and 2010. I have a passion for innovation, sharing and creating and learning, drawing and writing. I am also a lecturer at the Paris University, the Paris graduate school of management and HEC at which I speak not only about the Social Web and e-business, but also e-commerce, electronic payments, Marketing, innovation and ICT marketing project management.

the book: social media from the trenches ... (working title)

In February 2011, with my partner Hervé Kabla, I published a book dedicated to social media within the enterprise world entitled (in French) "social media taught to my boss". In just two weeks, more than 1000 copies were sold just by word of mouth. We are now working on the English version (the current working title is "social media from the trenches) of the book which we are hoping to release later this year. You may also be tempted to read about my career history (see below) but I think this is far less interesting than the future which we could build together on the Internet and in real life. You may find me on Twitter, LinkedIn, Xing, Viadeo and a vast array of networking sites which I place above e-mail, which is an outdated means of communication (see my piece on e-mail misuse in the enterprise).

employment history

• Director, Web, Digital & Social Media, Orange Group (from 04/11)
• Head of Internet and Digital Media, Orange Business Services (01/08-06/11)
• Innovation Principal, Orange Business Services (07/05-01/08),
• Business Partnerships Manager, France Télécom Corporate Solutions (01/03-06/05),
• 'Value Selling': High level engagement, France Télécom Corporate Accounts (06-12/02),
• Director, e-business & business development, France Télécom FCR (99-02),
• Senior Consultant, Cap Gemini (France/Lebanon/Hong Kong) (97-99),
• Consultant, Marketing Strategy & Internet, Unisys France & UK (95-97),
• Business Systems Manager, Unisys Europe Africa (92-95),
• Business Systems Manager, Unisys France (88-92),
• Sales executive, Philips France (85-88).

educational record

• Diploma Baccalaureat C (1979),
• Diploma of Skema Business School (1984), specialised in Marketing,
• London Chamber of Commerce (1984): Proficiency in Business English Advanced Level, with distinction.
• Completed training "International Talents Practice" (General Management) at EM-Lyon & Cranfield Management Development Centre (2004)
• Lecturer at the Paris Dauphine / Georgia State University mba and the mba-ebusiness of the Paris Graduate School of Management

marketing & innovation mba training and lecture material by Yann Gourvennec

(since 2007) Material from the mba course on the Marketing of technological innovations at the mba/mib of the Paris University/Georgia State University available here (the current version is the 2011 version),

(since 2007) MBA course on collaboration, enterprise social software (née enterprise 2.0) and social media (based on my field experience in that subject) at the Paris Graduate School of Management (ESG). The course material is available in English and French and is revised and updated on a yearly basis,

in 2008 and 2010, lectures on behalf of HEC on the subect of Internet Marketing & Social Media,

(2007-2008 and 2009 for Insead): lectures and presentations on joint innovation within the Large Projects and outsourcing division of Orange Business Services at Thales University (2hrs) [EN] and the INSEAD eMBA (4hrs) [EN] and the club of Marketing Directors of the ICT market (CMIT) [FR],

(2001-2002) course on online surveys provided at the master of electronic commerce of Skema (ESC Lille) [in French only].