Experts in the Industry: Josh Hilliker (56 of 45)

Given the awesomeness of Josh’s answers, I’m going to cut right to the chase in this interview:

I am an Architect for Intel and a Community Manager in the digital enterprise group @ intel corporation. Why am I good at it? I utilize my infectious passion, team building & results focus to make the impossible possible. Sometimes this comes at the risk of not sleeping, missing the gym and working more hours than I care to discuss, however the journey is the best part.. motor on!!

How did you get into the world of online community, social media or social marketing?

Well, seriously I was out in Penang, Malaysia in 2002, while I was in Manufacturing @ Intel and realized that I wanted to capture my memories, people I met with & more importantly key findings of my journey through the Assembly Test Plants. I kept a journal, updated my blog almost daily and in the end it made for the best trip report I had ever taken as the data was real time and I wrote what I heard, felt & discovered. Upon returning to the states I started to see the trend emerging and at that point I realized that I wanted to blog more, participate heavier and join the online world in a new way. At this same point in my career I had a desire to publish more for our internal portal, however the opportunities were low, scrutiny high and beyond that the voting of what employees wanted was not in place. So… with blogging you put that model on it’s ear, you start to see what employees really want, what is important and specifically you can megaphone your message via your blog vs. waiting for an editorial calendar to see a story hit the internal wire.

Now let’s fast forward a few years and now my division was faced with a true biz2biz challenge of how to embrace IT enthusiast, HW vendors, SW vendors and Intel together on a single platform to share, learn and network with fellow fans of the silicon. Welcome to my current job, this challenge over the last 2 years has become a rich, booming, exciting and very passionate group of folks. What do I enjoy the most out of this position that keeps my attention, focus & passion? Well, it’s about bring all the things I love to do in a single job: Experimenting, Learning, Sharing, talking to new people, understanding our end users and most importantly creating something that has purpose beyond just talking hardware.

If you had $10 million to invest in one company and one company only based on their use of “social,” which company would it be and why?

Rough question, not sure I can do this one justice. I’ve seen a few new companies come onto the scene that are proving their worth in their social roadmap & execution. My journey has shown me that business intelligence and analytics are the key to longevity in any technology business that provides SW or HW. Therefore if I were to invest any it would be in that sector.

Which business leader, politician or public figure do you most respect?

When I started at Intel in 1995 I was able to join a business update meeting in café when this executive talked to the entire site. I wasn’t sure who he was, however I was pretty clear that the entire site shut down to hear him talk. He took questions from the audience and I was stunned by how he handled this room of thousands, he was eloquent, he was crisp, he was passionate and at that moment I told myself he’s the business leader that I would like to best model. His Name is Dr. Andrew S. Grove.

Why do I respect Dr. Grove? Read his book, Only the Paranoid Survive, and you’ll see that he was one of the finest leaders that believed in Data being king, speaking with data and challenging leadership when data was present. I often find myself returning to his key quotes as reference points, guiding lights to help teams get through log jams and road blocks. I inspire to be as great as he has been for the world in my career & life.

Would you join a toothpaste community? Why?

Not sure, it depends if my wife (former Registered Dental Assistant) said I should to learn more. If my wife sent it to me via facebook I’d probably join to learn what they could do for me beyond my normal product that I use today.

Freeform – here’s where you can riff on anyone or anything – good or bad. Or just share a pearl of wisdom.
I was told this quote awhile back and I think it really embodies where we are as a society, culture & how social media is making your location less relevant. “You are always productive, no matter what your GPS coordinates “ – Frank Engelman

Josh can be found on Twitter at @JoshProStar