January 10, 2008
11:37 pm | 0 recommendations | Be the first to comment
Wouldn’t it be great if next time you had a presentation, if you could just turn on your laptop, hit a button and instantly share your PowerPoint, handouts and more without an internet connection? What if while on a plane, you were able to hold a whiteboard session with a coworker 10 rows away. A true on the fly collaboration tool.
Well, wish no more. If you have not played with Windows Meeting Space, then you have missed out on one of the best features in Vista Business and Vista Ultimate Edition.
Windows Meeting Space is a peer-to-peer application that operates directly between personal computers. No server infrastructure is involved even when you use the application over a corporate LAN or WLAN. Also, Windows Meeting Space is designed to enhance and support spontaneous and informal small-group collaboration (up to 10 concurrent users). It is is designed to help you collaborate from different locations, across corporate boundaries, and on different networks over the Internet.
Some notable features include:
Unlike Live Meeting which is designed to help you collaborate from different locations, across corporate boundaries, and on different networks over the Internet. Meeting Space is an Ad Hoc tool requiring no internet, LAN or WAN access.
It’s secure. Invitations and participant authentication are handled by using certificates derived through a common password exchange and verification between the session creator and the attendees.
In Windows Meeting Space, just like Live Meeting, the initiator can pass control to others.
No more swapping USB drives, all handouts can be shared in the session. When participants add a file to the handouts area, everyone gets a copy
If one group member makes a change to a file and saves it in the session, those changes are replicated immediately for all session members. When participants leave, they can save a "final" copy of the handout to their local hard drives. This alleviates the pain of managing multiple versions. Everyone can have an identical copy that reflects the results of your meeting. Allows for ad hoc chalk talks among participants.
Note- this product required IPv6 to be enabled on your laptop as it utilizes the peer to peer framework.
If you have not played with this tool yet, I encourage you to try it. I am a huge face of Live Meeting and have been using it for several years. If you know Live Meeting, you know how to use Meeting Space.
Let me know what you think and if this has removed some boundaries in your next conference room or outdoor lunch meeting.
Stephen
Stephen is Sr. Partner and Network Architect with Odyssey Consulting Group and a Microsoft MVP for Network Technologies.
Special thanks to my friends at Microsoft for the Meeting Space data sheets.
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January 4, 2008
03:56 pm | 0 recommendations | 6 comments
"How many of you were told when you were young that you could grow up to be anything you set your mind on?"
This was the way a professor-friend recently opened his graduate management course. Fewer than half the people in the room raised a hand.
I've begun asking this of everyone I meet, trying to get a sense if there's a relationship between the mental paths paved during childhood and each person's natural self-leadership to reach beyond obvious walls.
Similar to the class numbers, about half the people I speak with shake their head in wonderment, citing examples of a parent who regularly alluded to or directly told them opportunities were far and few.
One colleague said his parents regularly told him his options and potential were limitless, but also only set the bar knee high. They would say things like, "Your dream sounds neat but who would want to spend their whole life working that hard?" Pronouncements alone fall flat.
In my family, by contrast, my father took this question to another height, even using it as a game on long car trips. He'd ask me, "What couldn't you do?" He did this to help me build pathways to envision I could do almost anything. Then we'd talk through the steps it might take to reach high.
One of my most creative moments came on a day when I was about ten. I said, "I couldn't walk through the sun unassisted." I recall brief chatter about inventing a protective suit but for the most part it ended our conversation -- at least that day.
So what are you asking your children? What mental roadblocks are you helping your employees dismantle? What limits to your freedom are like mirages that once you close in on are simply reflections of something else?
Although I haven't always succeeded, I feel accomplished... and the flops taught me so much I appreciate them, too. Walking through the sun, however, still eludes me.
--------
Marcia Conner > www.marciaconner.com
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January 4, 2008
01:00 am | 0 recommendations | Be the first to comment
By Terry Tamminen
What do the horseless carriage, the iPod, and global warming have in common? Once thought fads or fantasy, it turns out that all three are here to stay.
It also turns out that each is more connected to the other than is apparent at first glance, especially when viewed through the lens of 21st century business. In the coming weeks, this blog will take readers on a journey of connecting the dots, from emerging technologies to evolving environmental ethics. I’ll share some insights as I travel the world - - working with inventors, investors, and political visionaries - - offering provocative and profitable ways to shape the future of our planet and our economies.
Corporate social responsibility (“CSR”), especially when it comes to the environment, offers that rare intersection of doing well and doing good at the same time. But environmental CSR (call it “e-CSR”) will be defined in new ways, even with a new language. Growing concern (and regulation) of greenhouse gases, for example, will result in a trillion dollar carbon market within a decade, creating a new global currency that anyone can trade for a profit.
Climate change will collide with dwindling natural resources to democratize the energy that powers our economies, redefining the haves and have-nots almost overnight. Think about it - - oil, uranium, even coal are in short supply and are controlled by the few, while the sun, wind, moving water, and things that grow are available, unfettered , to every human being on earth. Helping people master the technologies that convert those resources to something useful will fundamentally change our economic and political landscapes, like heat and pressure turn carbon into diamonds (hmmm...that has a familiar ring!). e-CSR at its best - - what’s good for the environment and its people is also very good for the bottom line.
On his last day in office, British Prime Minister Tony Blair told me that only the most sustainable businesses will survive and thrive in the 21st century. They will define our future on this planet. We’ve got a comet by the tail, so let’s use this blog to understand and enjoy the ride.
Terry Tamminen • terry.tamminen@gmail.com • www.terrytamminen.com • www.pegasusinvestors.com
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December 31, 2007
12:07 pm | 0 recommendations | Be the first to comment
Over the past few months I have been playing with a lot of the new GPS enabled mobile apps. There has been a shift (finally) from ported applications (applications written for the web and ported to mobile) and true mobile designed applications. Here are a few I have had some time to play with and test during my travels.
Windows Live Search for Mobile
I really like this product. With or without a GPS, the WLS is a great add-on to any Blackberry or Windows Mobile Device. WLS offers.
• Ability to either speak or type the location or store your searching for
• GPS directions and centering
• Turn by Turn Directions
• Real Time Traffic Status
• Cheap Gas Locations
• Movie Theater locations, times and reviews
• Category breakdown search for local businesses
• Satellite Images
Google Maps w/ My Location (still in Beta)
This application is smaller and more specific than the WLS. The directions were a bit more accurate but not as many local features integrated like WLS.
• Real Time Traffic
• Turn by Turn directions
• Integrated Search - Local business locations and contact information appear all in one place, integrated on your map.
• Satellite Images
Yahoo Go! 2.0
Yahoo Go! is a real stand out in the mobile apps arena. The Yahoo Go! App is nice as it gives you the most used Yahoo features outside of their search in a Mobile designed (not mobile ported) application It is more of a true portal app rather than a local search application. The interface is very stylish and very easy to use. It takes the concept of a portal page and breaks it down into mobile friendly tabs. My only issue with it is it’s not GPS enabled. Maybe in v 3.0.
Here’s the breakdown by tab.
• Integration with Yahoo Calendar, Contacts, and Yahoo Today
• Traffic Watch and Local Search
• Top News Stories and News watch.
• Sports including team watches
• Money and Stock watch.
• Entertainment news and Entertainment watch
• Weather
• Flickr direct view and upload
• Yahoo Mail
All these apps are free and well worth the time for you travelers to download.
Wishing all my readers much health, wealth and happiness in 2008
Stephen
Stephen is Sr. Partner and Network Architect with Odyssey Consulting Group and a Microsoft MVP for Network Technologies.
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December 28, 2007
09:32 pm | 0 recommendations | 2 comments
Tired of the usual end-of-year reflections?
Alongside the new year, you may be looking for a new practice to improve your organization's competitiveness, talent, staying power, and smarts.
Conduct a learning culture audit to speed your organization along the learning culture continuum and to help you get stronger now.
A simple diagnostic can help you assess your organization and your leadership team's orientation to learning. Examine characteristics of cultures that encourage or block learning to see how well you're fostering an environment where everyone continuously learns and applies what they learn faster.
Consider each question carefully and think about your behavior and that of your colleagues. You might also want employees to complete such a survey to get a sense of how they feel you and the entire organization are doing.
By taking organizations through this audit, you demonstrate your willingness to ask tough questions and hear answers which are honest rather than reassuring. The self-assessment should take no more than 10 minutes and the lessons learned can focus your organization for at least the next year.
Instructions: Rank your organization on each characteristic on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being always no and 5 being always yes. At the bottom, tally your numbers to determine if your organization has more of a pro-learning or an anti-learning culture. Circle the items in each category that require special attention from you in the coming days, weeks, and year.
|
Pro-learning culture |
1 – 5 |
Anti-learning culture |
1 – 5 |
|
People at all levels ask questions and share stories about
successes, failures, and what they have learned. |
|
Managers share information on a need-to-know basis. People keep secrets
and don’t describe how events really happened. |
|
|
Everyone creates, keeps, and propagates stories of
individuals who have improved their own processes. |
|
Everyone believes they know what to do, and they proceed on that
assumption. |
|
|
People take at least some time to reflect on what has
happened and what may happen. |
|
Little time or attention is given to understanding lessons learned from
projects. |
|
|
People are treated as complex individuals. |
|
People are treated like objects or resources without attention to their
individuality. |
|
|
Managers encourage continuous experimentation. |
|
Employees proceed with work only when they feel certain of the outcome. |
|
|
People are hired and promoted on the basis of their capacity
for learning and adapting to new situations. |
|
People are hired and promoted on the basis of their technical expertise
as demonstrated by credentials. |
|
|
Performance reviews include and pay attention to what people
have learned. |
|
Performance reviews focus almost exclusively on what people have done. |
|
|
Senior managers participate in training programs designed for
new or high-potential employees. |
|
Senior managers appear only to “kick off” management training programs. |
|
|
Senior managers are willing to explore their underlying
values, assumptions, beliefs, and expectations. |
|
Senior managers are defensive and unwilling to explore their underlying
values, assumptions, beliefs, and expectations. |
|
|
Conversations in management meetings constantly explore the
values, assumptions, beliefs, and expectations underlying proposals and
problems. |
|
Conversations tend to move quickly to blaming and scapegoating with
little attention to the process that led to a problem or how to avoid it
in the future. |
|
|
Customer feedback is solicited, actively examined, and
included in the next operational or planning cycle. |
|
Customer feedback is not solicited and is often ignored when it comes in
over the transom. |
|
|
Managers presume that energy comes in large part from
learning and growing. |
|
Managers presume that energy comes from corporate success, meaning
profits and senior management bonuses. |
|
|
Managers think about their learning quotient, that is, their
interest in and capacity for learning new things, and the learning
quotient of their employees. |
|
Managers think that they know all they need to know and that their
employees do not have the capacity to learn much. |
|
|
Total for pro-learning culture
|
|
Total for anti-learning culture |
|
The column with the highest total represents the type of culture you have today.
If you're interested in handing out a copy of this assessment to the people you work with, download a copy. More, much more, on creating a learning culture can be found in
Creating a Learning Culture: Strategy, Technology, and Practice (Cambridge, UK; Cambridge University Press, 2004) and in the article Create a Learning Culture (Fast Company online resource center).
Happy New Year.
--------
Marcia Conner > www.marciaconner.com
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December 21, 2007
11:54 am | 0 recommendations | 3 comments
I had one of the first cell phones with a camera. It would take these tiny, fuzzy photos that you would share with people on a 1 x 1 inch screen that was so small, that the image was nearly incomprehensible.
Now camera phones have gotten better. My new cell phone has a 2 MP camera and actually supports video conferencing but, I have a nice small Cannon that fits in my pocket for those moments to share. So, what else can the camera be used for .
I have found other really good uses for my cell phone camera. If you have others, please comment and share.
1. Take a photo of where you parked. I go to Disneyland with my family alot. The current structure is the largest covered lot in the United States has 7 levels and holds over 750,000 cars. After parking, I take a photo of the sign where I parked. This is also a great tip for airport parking when your returning from that long 5 day trip.
2. Food can labels. Want to go home and do some research on a food? Take a photo of the label
3. Business addresses and hours.I add them to my Outlook when I return home.
4. Shopping. When looking for a good deal on something, I shoot the label and then go home and look it up online. I have the model, price and sku all at my fingertips.
5. Dining. Ever pass a place and say I need to remember about that restaurant next time where thinking about where we should go. Photo it, send an email home and add a entry to your calendar.
6. Hotel rooms. Now that there is no more room keys, they give you that little slip of paper (which I always loose) with your room number. Shoot the room #.
7. Rental Cars. I always shoot a photo of my rental car and the license plate. I forget what I rented and don’t want to start looking for paperwork (which is probably in the glove box of the rental) to remember what I was driving/
8. Shopping list - Low on milk, coffee, etc…Start a photo only shopping list.
9. Take a photo of your bag before you check them. I have a lot of different bags and cannot always remember which ones I took with me on this trip.
10. Gifts. I often see things that I want or that others say they want as a gift. My wife is amazed that something she touched in a store 8 months ago and commented on ends up under the tree at Xmas. I do not have a good memory. I have a camera phone with a lot of memory. And that is good enough for me.
Stephen is Sr. Partner and Network Architect with Odyssey Consulting Group and a Microsoft MVP for Network Technologies.
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December 19, 2007
11:57 am | 0 recommendations | 3 comments
"Hi, this morning I'm using Jott. I'm actually in my car driving about 50 miles an hour, and sending an E-mail/message to myself to remind me of things I need to do today, while it's still fresh in my head. So I no longer have to type and drive at the same time. Note to self: stop typing and driving. Very dangerous. This is a great mobile technology that I am very excited about it, so I'm gonna end the Jott and wait till I get back to my office finish and finish this blog entry."
Jott! I love it. I use it. And best of all…it’s free!
What is Jott? Well, with Jott, you can record free voice messages that are transcribed and sent as text messages or e-mails without having to fumble for a pen or your mobile device.
How can you use it:
I mainly use it to send emails or notes from the car to myself or anyone in my Jott address book.
Now they have added several strategic partners so there are some new features like:
Amazon.com shoppers can use it to create a list of their favorite products using their voice.
For example, a user of the new service, which launched today, could add a voice message about favorite products -- say an Zune or the Heroes DVD Boxed Set and have the results from Amazon.com returned in an e-mail message.
You can use it to add appointments direct to your Google Calendar
Make a shopping list at Remember The Milk
Find out where the speed traps are by saying your location and getting an email back from trapster.com
Maybe just blogging directy to your Wordpress, Blogger, TypePad, or tumblr site.
So…www.jott.com. Check it out and let me know what you think!
Stephen is Sr. Partner and Network Architect with Odyssey Consulting Group and a Microsoft MVP for Network Technologies.
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December 16, 2007
08:25 pm | 0 recommendations | 5 comments
Recently a lot has been said about the “power of design” and its positive impact in business performance. According to the UK Design Council, “Share prices of companies using design effectively have outperformed the FTSE All-Share index by 200 per cent over ten years”. Apple, Google, P&G, and Samsung know this.
The question then is why, in the big picture, so few companies truly embrace design as a strategic tool? And why designers are not stronger players in the corporate world?
In my view design and designers are underutilized, and to a point miss-utilized, in today’s business world. I believe the main reason is due to the lack of understanding and appreciation between designers and business people.
My aim in this blog is to bridge this gap, highlighting the “power of design” and creating a greater understanding between designers and business people. Stay tuned for future postings. It will be fun!
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December 15, 2007
08:26 pm | 0 recommendations | 1 comment
In life and business sometimes bad stuff happens to good people. I like to think I'm currently in that group. If you read my last Fast Company Resource article, Shifting Gears at 105 without Falling Off the Cliff, you will be familiar with my recent land mine, a misstep in selecting an IT development firm and the result a product that the functionality sucks and the back end of the site needs to rebuilt. So during this time of forward change, what do we tell our community and new visitors? Especially since we can't stop the clock, we did screw up and we still need to drive traffic, grow our community and brand fans.
Honesty, humility and humor. That is the formula we have chosen. We want our loyal members and all the new folks to know that we know our community is not a perfect picture right now, but we are absolutely working on it. So we posted a big demolition coming soon sign with these words. The social network of our site is called the Muzeum.
Muzeum Demolition in the near future
The truth must known, we have found small amounts of asbestos in the Muzeum sheetrock, a few ounces of lead in the paint, a gas leak everywhere and foundation is unstable. Because we value our citizens and their work so much, we are temporally halting further construction on the Muzeum.
What does this mean for you?
It's going to get better soon. All rooms and spaces have been inspected and are completely safe and long as you don't take off your clothing or light up a pipe.
(To see the full note go to Oddpodz.com and register to be a citizen).
I believe a big part of managing change is about open, straightforward communication. Hopefully my community will enjoy the humor, appreciate our honesty and hang with our brand while we clean up the mess.
Are we nuts to take this approach?
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December 14, 2007
10:56 am | 0 recommendations | Be the first to comment
Day after day, year after year, I've strived to always do more. In school when I was assigned a paper on an "ism" I wrote it on "Moreism." My first book was titled, Learn More Now. I've not aspired for more goods, rather more experiences. As to why, I have more theories than time.
My life was complicated by running forward without recognizing I'd tangled my path. More clients. More calls. More writing. More naps.
When starting something new I rarely asked myself, "What will I take off of my schedule?" I'd never aggregated my actions: looking at all I was doing, observing my patterns, let alone considering my bounds.
Then something changed. No single event gets credit, rather more small events than I should have required. It's as if the more light has gone out. In it's place a faint glow that puts everything else in perspective.
Each day I ask myself these questions:
What is it time for?
What is it time to let go of?
Is there even more to let go?
Although some mornings I catch myself trying to separate or avoid the answers, I find these questions as intertwined as learning and life.
Asking them works. Change comes more easily. My capacity to make clear decisions has soared.
There is less on my do-list and there will be fewer experiences to reflect on come years' end. But I'm learning (if not more than ever) at least as much each day as I did when life overflowed. And I feel brighter and lighter because I have the mental space to focus on what matters most.
How to reach less in 4 not-so-easy steps
1. Pause. Before reacting to what's going on around you, making a quick move because of others' expectations, take a moment to breath deeply, stretch or walk around the block, consider a wider perspective and what it's time for.
2. Downshift. Take time each day to open your imagination and reflect on what you've learned. If you always seek more outside sources, or keep a go-go-go routine, you may be too exhausted to tap the tremendous source of knowledge and understanding you have within yourself.
3. Rest. Sleep every chance you can. Clear thinking, physical health, and your power to let go comes from your ability to be present with yourself -- and that requires enough rest.
4. Allow for serendipity. Instead of being more organized or controlling in your approach, allow for serendipity. Happy accidents happen when you look side to side or up, not always forward. Don't stop planning. Rather step out of the tunnel. Put yourself in situations that allow for the unexpected. Life is situationally driven. Learning happens in context. Be ready when opportunities arise. The more space you've cleared in your life for something new, the more right things will happen. More or less.
Marcia Conner > www.marciaconner.com
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