The Lotus Knows bus

September 24 2009

As those attending the Lotus Leadership Alliance noticed, there was a big coach bus parked outside the Charles Hotel.

Image:The Lotus Knows bus
(Picture credit: Chris Reckling)

Apparently it was quite a party bus:



Anyway, this bus is about to take its show on the road, across the US.  It is scheduled to visit 16 cities in October and November.  This Google map (thx Steve L) shows the dates and cities.  What will it be doing?  Well, that depends on the city.  In some locations, it's going to be at a particular event -- for example, in Chicago on October 6 it will be at the IBM Lotus "Smarter Collaboration" event, and I will be doing my part of the LotusUserGroup.org Notes/Domino 8.5.1 webcast that day from the comfort of the bus.  In other cities, details will be announced as the bus goes along.  I will tweet or add details to the blog as I get them.

I hope that those of you in the US and Canada will have the opportunity to see and visit the Lotus Knows bus -- rolling into your city soon!

Ed Brill | Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Lotus Knows  Add/View Comments [27]

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  1. 1  Patrick Picard  | 9/24/2009 9:05:52 AM

    No Orlando stop for lotusphere?

  1. 2  John Turnbow http://www.recondite2.com | 9/24/2009 9:11:28 AM

    This is great... Still missing Houston (again).

  1. 3  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 9/24/2009 9:18:22 AM

    I knew this was going to happen...the bus can't be *everywhere*, folks.

  1. 4  Bilal Jaffery http://www.bilal.ca | 9/24/2009 9:23:33 AM

    I'll be looking forward to the Toronto stop!

  1. 5  Albert Buendia http://www.slug.es | 9/24/2009 9:25:10 AM

    We want a xBus for Europe, :-)

  1. 6  Joseph Hoetzl http://www.josephhoetzl.com | 9/24/2009 9:28:50 AM

    Hmmm, Morristown, NJ - didn't know it was so "Yellow". Lotus Knows I Don't Know :-)

  1. 7  Michael Kobrowski  | 9/24/2009 9:31:54 AM

    Yeah, yeah, I know, the bus can't be everywhere. Seeing as its just one bus.

    Maybe a couple of lotusknows Smart Cars would be good too - for Smart Planet tie in? :)

    Btw, I don't see October 30th busy yet - and Oct 29th is Columbus, so October 30th could easily be Indianapolis - come by and I'll throw in a abbreviated version of one of our Ghost Bus Tours - make it a Halloween event ;-) (either in the later afternoon, or late evening, as we already have at least 2 tours around 7 pm).

    (yes, its a side business my wife and I own - can't rely on corporate America alone ;-)

  1. 8  Michael Kobrowski  | 9/24/2009 9:35:19 AM

    @1 that would be a great idea to have it available as Lotusphere night shuttle for those people celebrating too much erm working too late. Maybe be able to track and communicate with it via public Sametime server or Twitter ;-)

  1. 9  Jim Casale http://www.jimcasale.net | 9/24/2009 10:27:46 AM

    How about paying VW Bug owners to paint their cars yellow and put the Lotus Knows logo on the side...didn't someone do somethig along those lines back int he day?

  1. 10  Nathan T. Freeman http://nathan.lotus911.com | 9/24/2009 12:10:50 PM

    *shudder* @video

  1. 11  Brian Benz http://www.softwaresoapbox.com | 9/24/2009 12:54:35 PM

    Vegas on Oct 19....looking forward to it! I assume it will be parked right outside the Mandalay Bay, across the entrance from this:

    { Link }

  1. 12  Kurt Binnie  | 9/24/2009 1:11:34 PM

    Road Trip!!!

  1. 13  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 9/24/2009 2:34:13 PM

    @11 you got that right! (or someplace in the general vicinity)

  1. 14  Irv Shor  | 9/24/2009 3:39:50 PM

    @7 - Anything yellow, so long as its not the Saturn Outlook!

  1. 15  Volker Weber http://vowe.net/about | 9/24/2009 4:59:44 PM

    You mean like tem years ago? { Link }

  1. 16  Giulio http://www.buzznotes.com.au | 9/24/2009 5:54:47 PM

    Kewl bus ed. I suppose it's like this party bus ?

    { Link }

  1. 17  Palmi  | 9/24/2009 7:11:04 PM

    We got a IBM bus here in Icleand - wrong color for me :)

    { Link }

  1. 18  Paul Mooney http://www.pmooney.net | 9/25/2009 7:18:54 AM

    @15 - that brings back memories

  1. 19  Alan Lepofsky http://www.alanlepofsky.net | 9/25/2009 7:48:27 AM

    Darn, Bilal I was going to meet up with you at the Toronto stop, but Nov 2 is Enterprise 2.0 in San Francisco. (the bus really should be there)

  1. 20  Peter Lardas  | 9/25/2009 10:06:31 AM

    Hmmm...

    Shouldn't that logo on the bus read:

    "Lotus Knows a Quickr route this bus can take."?

    ;-)

  1. 21  Kevin Lee  | 9/25/2009 10:59:33 AM

    Are IBM/Lotus going to spend any marketing cash on TV advertising for the Lotus brand in Europe? Only 'Lotus people' are going to see this type of advertising, not people who decide to install M$Soft !

    @20 lol

  1. 22  Kevin Lee http://www.simonsgroup.com | 9/25/2009 11:00:30 AM

  1. 23  Paul Johnson  | 9/25/2009 11:42:28 AM

    @20 ...I think it should have said "Lotus Knows a Quickr route this bus can take away from Micro$oft." ...and have the last stop in Redmond.

  1. 24  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 9/25/2009 12:40:49 PM

    @21 TV is not out of the question in a future phase, but it's not part of the initial plan. However, I strongly disagree with the characterization that only 'Lotus people' will see this -- for example, one of the advertising vehicles in the US will be in-flight video on Virgin America and JetBlue. The full-page ads in the Wall Street Journal and Boston Globe the other day were similarly not just 'Lotus people'-targeted.

    { Link }

  1. 25  Steve Seymour http://www.portalpartnership.com | 9/27/2009 4:36:36 PM

    @24 .... US not Europe though... Again ... What are the plans for the rest of the non-USA audience?

  1. 26  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 9/27/2009 7:48:39 PM

    The first phase of the "Lotus Knows" campaign is taking place in the US and Canada. We have significant plans for other countries and regions which will roll out over the next several months. Nobody is more aware of the need for this to be a multi-country effort than I am. I ask marketing about the latest non-North American plans regularly. Japan, Germany, UK, Australia are among countries where we will have additional efforts, and I will certainly blog about them (or you can join the Facebook "Lotus Knows" group).