Yesterday ExecutiveBiz hosted the Web 2.0 Breakfast Roundtable at the Tower Club in Vienna, VA. Limited to 18 attendees, the event provided an opportunity for candid discussion about how to apply new technologies like social networking, user-generated content, and collaboration to business, the public sector, and our personal digital lives.

As someone who typically sits on the consumer side of the Web 2.0 space as a Contributing Editor at Mashable and a co-founder of social networking site MindSay, it was fascinating to hear how companies on other side of the coin are thinking about the same set of technologies. While sites like Facebook, Digg, and Twitter are continually making headlines in my world, for organizations in our metropolitan area, much of the focus is on how to apply Web 2.0 technologies to billion dollar businesses and enormous government agencies.

During the discussion, one of the attendees joked “I think I’m going to leave here much more confused!” In thinking about our discussion afterwards, I have some good news for you: you’re not alone! Many of the same issues that were highlighted in our conversation – privacy, controlling your data, and brand management – are still far from an open and closed case on the consumer side of Web 2.0 as well. For example, Facebook, while currently the darling of the media, is constantly catching flack from users as it transforms from a cool social networking site for college students to a robust platform business for the mainstream. Digg, the social news site that landed founder Kevin Rose on the cover of Business Week, recently found itself in turmoil after launching a set of social networking features that were not well received by its users. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Twitter has been hit with continuous service outages as they try to scale their system to accommodate the early adopters that have flocked to it.

These examples aren’t meant to scare you, but simply a way to illustrate that things are just as chaotic on all sides of the Web 2.0 spectrum. While Facebook, Digg, and Twitter have had their share of problems, it hasn’t stopped them from continuing to innovate and drive forward with with products that improve our lives. Rather than fear the unknown, companies looking to adapt Web 2.0 should instead think about their goals and how to best achieve them. If your first try at implementing a wiki is unsuccessful, it doesn’t mean all future attempts at adding collaboration to your workplace are doomed. If your company blog only has 10 subscribers, keep blogging! The fact your organization has a voice in the blogosphere will come in useful, especially when your brand faces a crisis that needs an immediate response.

The question really isn’t about the software – there are dozens of vendors eager to bring your organization a laundry list of Web 2.0 features and functionalities. Successful deployment depends on a well articulated set of goals and requirements, as well as making sure everyone using your fancy new piece of Web 2.0 software has the proper motivation to do so. Most people respond well to things that make their jobs easier, improve their productivity, and reward their individual contributions to a team goal. Along the same lines, try to involve all levels of your organization in the vendor selection process, starting with the requirements for a successful solution. In the same way social networks like MySpace and Facebook grow through viral marketing, your new Web 2.0 tool’s success will depend on stakeholders in all parts of your organization singing its praises.

In short, Web 2.0 is still the wild, wild, west for all of us. However, if your organization has a specific goal – be it increased internal communication, better collaboration, or increasing your brand’s relationship with customers – there is a piece of software to do it, and people ready to use it.

For more open Web 2.0 discussion and networking, there will be additional breakfast roundtable events October 11^th, 18^th, and 25^th.

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Adam Ostrow is a Contributing Editor at Mashable, one of the leading blogs covering the Web 2.0 space. Additionally, he is co-founder of MindSay, a popular social networking service, and pens his own musings at AdamOstrow.com.

If you read the popular blog, Techcrunch you know that last Thursday a group of fifteen “industry luminaries” took part in a highly confidential meeting at Google’s Mountain View, CA offices. According to three of those in attendance, Google plans to launch a new set of APIs in early November in an effort to give programmers the ability to cultivate all of the social graph data through gmail, Orkut (Google’s social networking site) google talk, igoogle, and every other addictive Google product.

The API rumors are likely to pull back the Google Curtain as developers begin to create third-part applications in much the same way that Facebook allows on its social networking pages.

Not be out done, Microsoft yesterday announced their intentions to buy a minority stake in Facebook, now valued at over $10 billion, in what the Wall Street Journal described as a “sign of new urgency.”

Microsoft has long been seen as being outpaced by Google’s robust advertising platform that accounted for a vast majority of its over $7.5 billion in revenue in the first two quarters of this year alone. Microsoft likely sees Facebook as an opportunity to expand its own advertising platform by tapping into the 40 billion Facebook page views per month.

Critics point out that unlike search engine advertising, where users are looking for products or services, Facebook users are more interested in connecting with other users, and thus less receptive to ads.

Though Google, too, has expressed recent interest in acquiring at least a minority stake in Facebook. And, with the recent $1.6 billion purchase of Youtube, Google’s isn’t a company known to just kick the tires. Stay tuned and keep eye on the developers’ reaction to Google’s new APIs due out during early November.

Employee-owned companies - or those majority-owned by employees through a Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), Profit Sharing Trust or Stock Purchase Plan - barely register as a percentage of all U.S. companies. Many tend to be clustered in consumer-facing market segments (i.e. - supermarkets, fast food), but if you look at the 100 largest (by number of employees) majority employee-owned US companies, there is a fairly diverse industry distribution.

The lack of 100% employee-owned companies counters both the common sense benefits as well as research indicating that employees in such an arrangement work harder and assume more responsibility. Many owners are understandably hesitant because employee-owned companies can be highly leveraged for the first few years and take time to reach profitability, but for those willing to be patient the benefits are tangible.

Consider a UK survey of business owners by the Employee Ownership Associated carried out in 2005 that revealed 72% thought staff worked harder under a co-ownership structure, 81% said they took more responsibility, 49% thought competitiveness was enhanced and 44% confirmed profits were higher. In fact, another UK firm compared the financial performance of employee owned companies with those listed on the London Exchange and found that, since 1992, £100 invested in an index of these companies would have grown to £349 in June 2003; the same £100 invested in an all-share index would only have grown to £161.

While the employee-ownership business model fights to win converts, two local companies that rank on the Top 100 list are demonstrating how to effectively execute this structure: Alion Science and Technology and American Systems.

On September 13th, ExecutiveBiz shined the executive spotlight on Stacy Mendler, Chief Operating Officer at Alion Science and Technology, an employee-owned technology solutions company delivering technical expertise and operational support to the Department of Defense primarily.

The reality is the spotlight has been on Alion quite a bit in 2007, as the Web site press room is so deep with significant news and milestones (after scrolling down for ten minutes I was still in August!) that Alion is not simply a growth story achieved organically and via acquisition (check out Karen Mortenson’s blog post on their recent LogConGroup, Inc. and Anteon acquisitions), but a dynamic success story.

2007 accolades include Washington Technology #2 M&A Deal of the Year, Military Training Technology Top 100, and most recently, a “Contractor of the Year” finalist among companies with annual revenues exceeding $300 million for the 5th Annual Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards. Alas, Alion can’t win them all: it fell just short at the Emmys when it lost out to Jaime Pressly for “Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.”

Alion has grown significantly since its formation in 2002 when roughly 1,600 employees of the IIT Research Institute (IITRI) - founded in 1936 - purchased the majority of assets of IITRI, creating a 100% ESOP-owned company. By the end of last year the company registered over one-half billion in revenue and the employee head count totaled 3,500. Toss in a spate of major acquisitions and you have to believe CFO Jack Hughes is long overdue for a vacation.

Another successful ESOP contractor, American Systems, is on a rapid growth trajectory as well. In his interview with Washington Technology, William Hoover, president and CEO, made clear the path forward involves executing strategic acquisitions and organic growth to push the company beyond mid-tier contractor status. After taking on a lot of debt in the first few years after becoming an employee-owned ESOP in 1997, that debt has now been liquidated and Hoover (interviewed earlier this year by ExecutiveBiz) is positioning the company to grow significantly - with the goal of reaching tier one status (annual revenues exceeding $1B) over the next several years.

All good news for Alion and American Systems employees, who not only contribute to the firms’ success, but own a stake in the fruits of their labor as well.

It is not easy for the Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of a $1.8 billion company with 10,500 employees to convey genuine humility when reflecting upon a career overflowing with personal accomplishments. But it was clear to the room full of local executives and leaders who came to hear Jack London, Chairman of CACI International, Inc. at the ExecutiveBiz “Been There Done That” lunch event series sponsored by Greenberg Traurig on Thursday that this a man far more comfortable shining the spotlight on the company he helped build and the employees who embody it, rather than himself.

In some ways Jack London is still the same self-described “frisky bulldog” from Oklahoma City who learned how to fight, lead and serve his country during 12 years of active duty in the Navy, including time with U.S. Navy “hunter-killer” task forces arrayed against the Soviet Union’s strategic nuclear submarine threat.

Mr. London carried traits developed in the Navy - tenacity, integrity, commitment - to CACI when he joined the small professional services consulting firm 35 years ago. (He also carried them to the lunch event, as Mr. London kept the engagement despite feeling less than 100% after returning from a lengthy plane flight) In some ways his aversion to waxing on about his personal accomplishments traces to one of his favorite quotes from former IBM President Thomas J. Watson: “Nothing happens (in a company) until a sale is made.” Translation: a bunch of talking heads in a room stroking their own egos won’t close a sale or generate business. And few executives specialize in the art of getting business like Mr. London.

In listening along with a packed Tower Club room full of local executives to the path Mr. London and CACI traveled down between then and now, it was clear to everyone that great companies are not built by accident. You can’t just throw a few pet supplies on the Internet and expect to be around for the long haul. (There is no need to be so defensive Pets.com. I could be referring to any Internet pet supplies company that went from IPO to liquidation in nine months)

In the case of CACI, Mr. London chronicled a number of stiff challenges the company faced once he rose to the executive suite in the early 1980s that threatened its very future, ranging from shareholder lawsuits to proxy fights to addressing the all-too-public, and ultimately unproven, accusations against CACI employees at Abu Ghraib. Mr. London fought through all of those challenges, and the fact he was willing to devote part of his time on Thursday to talking about the latter issue speaks volumes about how important ethics are to him personally and to the culture of integrity he helped to foster at the company.

Today CACI, as Mr. London tells it, has reached its current level of success because company leadership has excelled at anticipating changes ahead of the competition. Instead of standing pat, CACI has strategically repositioned itself in order to meet prevailing and future customer demands - all while maintaining its core mission and values.

And no one will be standing pat at CACI if Mr. London has anything to say about it. With nearly $2 billion in sales today he is aiming for $5 billion by 2012. A heady goal, but one he fully expects to reach because he continues to convey the same philosophies to employees that have served him so well during his 35 years at the company: refuse to fail, and ignore those who say you can’t do it.

The event concluded with ExecutiveBiz presenting Mr. London with the “Been There Done That” award as a testament to his accomplishments (picture below). To view additional pictures from the event, visit the ExecutiveBiz Flickr photo page.

Illinois Sen. and 2008 presidential candidate Barack Obama joined LinkedIn, the online professional community, further positioning his campaign as the leader in utilizing social networking sites to garner online support.

Already a strong presence on Facebook, MySpace, and Flickr, Obama recently joined LinkedIn, the social network site aimed professionals looking to expand their networks in a particular field. Using LinkedIn’s Q&A feature, Obama posed a question to the broader LinkedIn audience, asking “How can the next president better help small business and entrepreneurs thrive?” The question generated over 1,500 responses from entrepreneurs of every stripe. The Obama camp plans to use the responses to formulate future policy initiatives.

The move into LinkedIn is the latest in a series for the Obama campaign that has employed web 2.0 tools in a variety of ways. The candidate’s homepage features links to no less than a half dozen web-based tools, from his YouTube videos to his Facebook profile.

Critics who may have discounted Obama’s over 170,000 My-Space friends as those unlikely to vote, or Obama’s photos on Flickr photos as merely window dressing, may raise an eyebrow as his presence on the popular LinkedIn is likely to tap an older, more politically motivated demographic.

“LinkedIn is proving to be an effective place to get quality advice and influence others,” Dan Nye, LinkedIn’s chief executive said in an recent interview with Yahoo! News.

The internet is an important focus for all candidates, but especially Obama who received over a quarter of all first quarter 2007 fundraising dollars online.

Look for Obama to pose more questions to the LinkedIn community, as well as other candidates to follow suit.

A Web 2.0 Roundtable was held this morning at the Tower Club. Some of the comments and insights are:

ROI vs- ROE: This group consisted of mostly large companies in need of products with ROI, Janet Hall of TMNG Global suggested that every company will not only weigh the Return on Investment but will carefully assess the customer’s Return on Experience (“ROE”) as factors for continuing projects.

Sameer Sharma of Lockheed Martin indicated that Web 2.0 is in the very early stage of mass collaboration which to the agreement of the group, will enable a much higher degree of connection and leverage. Tom Hall of EDS and Janet Hall of TMNG suggested that much of the Web 2.0 early adoption is framed and tested initially for internal use only.

Burton Kloster of Brainware indicated that another area gaining Web 2.0 traction is in the Political field. Andy Hoskinson, of Unisys referenced, Barack Obama’s Linked in questionnaire issuance and the level of intelligent responses that were received as an early bell weather of change in this field. Joe Trippi the 2004 Howard Dean campaign manager and now the web coordinator for the John Edwards campaign will take this discussion deeper at the November 1 conference.

A number of attendees including; Derek Plansky of Lexis Nexis, Scott Stephens of The Push Group, Brian Williams of Viget Labs and Swamy Narayama of CGI commented to the trend of application development extending to the “seed and grow” phase and that community managers and community librarians are valuable enablers to the process, as long as they remain “honest brokers” of information and are not perceived as superficial marketing vehicles.

Daniel Chenok of SRA and Dr. Angela Wilson of Sekon remarked about the continuing need for access control, privacy and security in governmental installations. They also mentioned the self-regulation occurs in government secure intranets like Intellipedia; where posting information has a direct impact to reputation. Ralph Crozier of Grow Fast Grow Right, was excited to hear that Kevin Turner, Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft is speaking to an Executive Biz gathering on September 21st at the Reston Hyatt.

Hughes Communications is about to make my life so much easier. Let me explain. My mom lives in rural Northwest Washington state, where the biggest development each time I visit is the location of the newest clear-cut. It’s rural. Very, very rural. My normally timid retired mother has learned to drive like a bat out of heck on roads that curve violently around the hills and mountains. When I’m with her in the car, I clutch the door frame and pray.

Yet when it comes to Internet service at her house, it’s always been dial-up…excruciatingly slow dial-up. Nothing else was available. (No broadband provider was crazy enough to string a cable from her clutch of homes to the nearest small city, 35 miles away.) I love my mom, but dial-up makes me want to scratch out my eyes.

Behold, the coming of Hughes Communications to her forested neighborhood. Based in Germantown, Maryland, Hughes provides just the type of services my mom desperately needs: Internet service via satellite to rural areas where other broadband options aren’t available. She’d been talking generically about satellite for a while, but then it happened. We were chatting on the phone this week, and suddenly she said to me, “Well, we got HughesNet up and running.”

“Wait,” I say, “You mean, you really got satellite Internet? Finally? I can send you big files—with pictures, and videos, and…” I continued to sputter in excitement. And anything larger than 48K, I’m thinking to myself. Geez, her old system was so slow. And now when I visit her little paradise near the Pacific Ocean, I can enjoy the same high-speed luxury as when I’m ensconced in my suburban DC office. Now you understand why I am worshiping Hughes Communications like a forbidden idol.

Providing broadband service to consumers like my mom as well as small businesses is, in fact, the firm’s fastest-growing segment. Currently, however, it derives most of its revenue by managing satellite networks for national companies with a multitude of locations and providing government services.

Hughes’s growth since its founding in 1971 has led it to be the 35^th largest public company in the greater DC region, according to The Post 200, a report published by The Washington Post. That’s based on 2006 revenues, which totaled $858.7 million. The company moved successfully to the Nasdaq in 2006 after going through a change in ownership.

Hughes announced three executive appointments to its board in June of this year. All hold the title of director:

As promised, this post follows up on yesterday’s account of the Walker & Dunlop reception. Held last Wednesday, the event was hosted by the firm’s CEO, Will Walker, who has extensive senior management experience. The firm’s gathering gave some of the DC region’s leading executives a chance to exchange business cards, talk shop, and even make a few deals.

Bob Cohen, president and lead producer at DC’s Perseus Realty, was one high-profile individual at last week’s event. His firm focuses entirely on commercial property investments as well as office, industrial, retail, and residential development.

Bill Wolfe from First Washington Realty in Bethesda also came out to greet his compatriots. First Washington is a privately-owned investment and management company specializing in community shopping centers throughout the US and abroad. Wolfe, a Harvard-educated president and CEO, also served in the Executive Office of the President of the United States.

Stan Sloter, president of Bethesda’s Paradigm Companies, joined the many real estate and business executives filling the Metropolitan Club on September 5.

Speaking of business, who can keep Washington DC’s Carlyle Group far from mind these days? It’s been all over the news lately regarding mergers and acquisitions, making powerful moves to grow the firm. Some of its former executives are doing pretty well for themselves, and Carlyle graduate Esko Korhonen was present at this suit-filled shindig. He’s a founding partner of Federal Capital Partners (FCP), a leading real estate development and investment company.

Yes, the movers were shaking and the shakers were moving. Well, symbolically anyway. It’s kind of hard to really get your groove going in your best suit and silk tie—or heels and a straight skirt. But there’s a certain fire present when you know you’re surrounded by the best of the bunch.

Many of the fastest growing private companies in the Discrict of Columbia provide online advertising, marketing and IT support according to the recently published INC 5000 List.

The yearly catalog of fast growing private companies operating within the digital communications space includes Washington D.C-based Mindshare Interactive Campaigns, TIG global, and eResources, all of whom achieved over 200% growth since 2003.

For all the Washington area companies that made the list click here.

The Post’s WashBiz Blog published a piece on Friday that looked like the “bold” setting had gotten stuck on the writer’s keyboard. The usage was appropriate, though, as the article highlighted the names of top executives who had attended Walker & Dunlop’s Wednesday reception at the Metropolitan Club. Located in Bethesda, Walker & Dunlop is an investment bank and real estate company, and their reception brought together high-ranking business and real estate professionals from the Washington DC region.

The name dropping started with Daniel Mudd, CEO of Fannie Mae, who attended the event with Ken Bacon, executive vice president for housing and community development. More CEOs dotted the scene, including Tom Bozzuto of The Bozzuto Group, who won Executive of the Year in 2005 in the multifamily housing industry. Mark Ein, founder and CEO of Venturehouse Group—and entrepreneur extraordinaire—joined the impressive guest list.

More big names were mentioned as attendees, like Frank Saul III, a leading executive at Chevy Chase Bank, as well as successful developer John Mason. Bernstein Management, a real estate management and investment company, was represented by its president, Josh Bernstein. And the JBG Companies, a powerhouse in the real estate industry, was present via managing partner Rob Stewart.

This was definitely an important networking event, especially for the real estate and investment community, and I’m sure at least 1,000 handshakes were exchanged. To find out about additional top executives who attended the Walker & Dunlop reception, stay tuned for my second post on the topic, which will be published tomorrow.