Customer-feedback effort titled "Oracle Listens" will allow users to post questions and comments to Oracle execs during run-up to OpenWorld conference Oracle is set to launch a high-profile customer-feedback effort titled “Oracle Listens” that will see the Oracle.com landing page transformed into a “simple UI that has one purpose: to gather ideas from the user community, about any aspect of Oracle,” wrote Justin Kestelyn, editor of the Oracle Technology Network, in a blog post on Sept. 8.Oracle executives will be answering questions from visitors directly during the run-up to the vendor’s annual OpenWorld conference, which starts Sept. 21, Kestelyn said.[ Keep up on the latest tech news headlines at InfoWorld News, or subscribe to the Today’s Headlines newsletter. ] Site visitors can skip through to the normal home page if they wish. The campaign, which will also employ Oracle’s Mix social-networking platform, is set to officially start sometime this week.“To me, this is the most audacious part of the program — that they are hijacking ALL traffic to the Oracle.com and diverting them to Oracle Listens,” said analyst Charlene Li, who covers social media technologies, in a blog post. “It’s a bold move that highlights how serious Oracle is about listening to and embracing their customers and partners.”“But I think the biggest risk is that Oracle as an organization does not sustain the effort over the long term,” Li added. “Once Oracle’s customers/partners get a taste of this ‘new’ Oracle, they are going to want more, and the risk is that Oracle executives and employees will go back to their daily routines. But I suspect that some executives and employees — not all, but some — will also get hooked and will stay engaged.” After the promotion ends on Sept. 21, Oracle plans to “transform this experience into a permanent fixture of Oracle’s brand-to-community-to-brand conversation,” Kestelyn said. Software DevelopmentTechnology Industry