PTC Discusses Social Media

Some hardcore engineers may cringe at the mere mention of Facebook or Twitter. Others may admit to browsing YouTube for snippets of TV shows and animals doing tricks once in a while, but can’t see a purpose for it in professional life.

But PTC, known for Pro/ENGINEER CAD software and Windchill product lifecycle management (PLM) platform, is fully embracing social media. The company believes this teenager-inspired phenomenon has a legitimate place, not only in its own customer outreach initiatives and recruitment efforts but also in the product development cycle of its own customers. So much does PTC believe in social media that it recently appointed someone as its social media director.

Last year, at its annual user conference, PTC User World Event 2009, the company unveiled a new offering called Windchill ProductPoint. Based on Microsoft SharePoint, it incorporates WiKi-creation, model sharing, presence detection, instant messaging, and many features found in social media platforms. It is the offspring of PTC’s vision called “social product development.”

In this podcast (roughly 16 mins), Alan Belniak, PTC’s newly hired social media director, Sandy Joung, PTC’s senior director of product marketing, and Brian Shepherd, PTC’s executive vice president of product development, discuss what social means to them and why they’re banking on it.

• PTC’s Social Product Development blog
• PTC on Facebook
• PTC’s social media director @abelniak on Twitter