Talk:John K. Werner

I continue to doubt the notability of this topic

I see that this rather more modest entry has replaced the previous lengthy, enthusiastically laudatory article that treated us to such vital information as the names of "John K. Werner"'s children along with mini-biographies of his parents. We also now are deprived of the high-resolution headshot of John K. Werner that graced that page.

It is still not clear to me why this individual merits an entire Wikipedia article. He appears to be a small business owner (I guess? I have never heard of his company nor of any of the other companies in which they report they have invested) like millions of others, most of whom do not appear on these pages and none of whom, I would wager, have an entire section devoted to an A that they received in college 35 years prior (and sourced primarily to a single blurb in the school's alumni magazine).

I believe this article should be deleted. However, there appears to be at least one editor who is interested in this topic, so I will not so nominate the article at this time. The claim that Werner "has also been recognized by the Harvard Business Review for his leadership" is sourced to breathy speaker biographies that do not offer independent corroboration of this remarkable statement. My recollection is that the original Werner entry had a link to a blog, which link was itself of questionable value in verifying the claim.

Speakers' biographies are often provided by the speakers themselves and do not, to me, seem reliable as sources. An example of the prose from one of John K. Werner's bios: "John Werner is a dynamic MIT Senior Fellow and accomplished entrepreneur. He's a 5x-founder and an influential columnist in AI for Forbes...John has shaped collaborative innovation worldwide..."

Hardly a balanced presentation of the subject and no citations are provided for further review.

I think the HBR claim should be removed unless it can be properly sourced. Ned Trujillo (talk) 16:07, 27 October 2024 (UTC)

I would further note there are significant issues with the claims about Werner's contributions in India.

"Werner has significantly contributed to addressing the challenges of large-scale events through his work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Kumbh Mela in India. As the Head of Innovation and New Ventures at the MIT Media Lab's Camera Culture Group, Werner was instrumental in the Kumbhathon project, which aimed to develop innovative solutions for the Kumbh Mela, one of the world's largest religious gatherings."

Sources 1) and 9) are given in support of this. 1) is an article in an Indian paper that can be seen as confirming Werner had a role in KumbhThon, as it is spelled in that article. However, it says nothing about Werner "significantly" contributing to resolving any challenges. 9) is a blog entry by Werner himself that contains no links to verify information. I believe the bolded sentence in the Wikipedia entry needs to be deleted.

This entry also claims:

"Werner's contributions to the Kumbh Mela have been recognized for their impact on urban planning and crowd management, showcasing the potential of technology to transform large-scale events and enhance public safety.

It cites a Guardian article whose only mention of Werner is "Participants at a Kumbathon workshop talk MIT’s John Werner through their idea." How do we get from here to Werner being recognized for anything?

As with the previous version of this article, the current iteration makes assertions not backed up by sources and which seem needlessly congratulatory and promotional. Ned Trujillo (talk) 23:14, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

It is claimed that "Forbes...praised [Werner's] contributions at the World Economic Forum in Davos."

The only reference to Werner that I can see in the Forbes article about Davos is:

“'Companies such as Google, Amazon and Walmart are harnessing data to unleash human potential,' said Sandy Pentland, who launched Imagination in Action along with John Werner, both of MIT Connection Science."

This article really pushes the limits of self-promotion. Ned Trujillo (talk) 20:39, 17 December 2024 (UTC)