Notes on Productivity Home Page

Looking back: Just 10 years ago, I took MailScout, our server-based rules package for cc:Mail and Lotus Notes, to exhibit at Lotusphere. Back then, spam was a small percentage of the total email received and many people felt that 25 - 40 emails was a high volume of email to receive in one day. MailScout helped people manage this "flood" of email.

One of the many success stories to come from our effort was an award of a single contract to deploy 80,000 seats of our productivity software for a single enterprise client. MailScout changed the way that productive people around the world managed their email, and I'm amazed to see that 10 years later, no one has quite matched some of the features in our original product.

Lotus Notes was rapidly growing in popularity in the enterprise messaging arena while the future of cc:Mail was uncertain in many customer's minds. We wanted to be ready for anything so we decided to play both sides of the fence by handing out thousands of buttons so that people could show their loyalty to either platform. (See photos)



The buttons were a huge hit, and people came to our booth in droves. Once there, the Peloria team of myself, Bailey Williams, Jennifer Jackman, and Tanny O'Haley provided information about our product and offered demonstrations.


The Peloria Technology Corporation team
(That's me, next to the guy who forgot to wear his binoculars.)

Lotusphere was a big step (and investment) for our tiny little software company, part of an amazing adventure, one which I will never forget. I'm thankful for the dedicated team (Bailey, Michael, Tanny, Jennifer, Linda, Jonathan, and Jenny, to name a few...) along with the investors who helped grow the company. (I eventually sold my interest in the company and moved on, resigning as CTO to pursue personal projects. Sadly, a few years later, Peloria became a casualty of the dot.com era.)

Looking forward: Today, 25-40 emails in a day is considered just a trickle, while flood status from some executives looks more like 250-400 emails in a day. I continue to work on innovative ways to show people new ways of getting things done using technology to enhance their personal and group productivity. Plans are in the works to attend Lotusphere next year to showcase several new eProductivity products and services.

To my friends and associates who will be attending Lotusphere this year, I wish you the best, safe travels, and an exciting time. It could be a big step for you as it was for me.

Do you have an interesting story to share about MailScout? If so, send me an e-mail with your story and I'll send you a button. I only have 5 left!