I Know It When I See It - a Review

From Triond:
I know it when I see it, is a fictional tale by Joh Guaspnari and tells the story of Punctuation Inc. The first company to produce punctuation marks, but as the new Process Inc starts to gain market share the boss gets worried, and tries to fix the problem.

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Making your resume stand out with QR Codes

Here's an innovative idea for your resume. More and more I see QR Codes on billboards, advertisments, and everything in between.

So why not put a QR Code on your resume, when you print it off and give it to tech savy folks they can scan the code with their phone or other mobile devices and learn even more information about you, save your contact info to their mobile phone or setup an appointment in just a few short clicks.

I got the idea from this article over on Microsoft - Make your resume stand out with Tag.. Read More...

The ultimate remote control

If there is one thing that I can never get enough of it is remote controls. I must have 10 different remotes just to operate my downstairs entertainment system, and of those ten I can never seem to find the "right" one for whatever I'm trying to do. Between my surround sound, my LCD tv, my blue ray player, my DVD player, all of which seem to have obscure remote codes that don't seem to be easily programmable into the "all-in-one" style remotes.

To help get rid of all of this remote nightmare I used to have some nice software on my laptop, that listed all of the various devices. It was simple and quick (and a laptop is much easier to find then a remote). But very few laptops today seem to have infrared ports in them anymore.

So I was excited when I came across this YouTube video of the Sony Tablet S.



The tablet is much easier to hold and carry then my old laptop and finally includes an infrared port (and software) to control all of my devices. Plus it's still big enough for me to find an unlikely to fall between the cushions of my couch!

Perhaps I will even be able to use it when out and about to change the channel at restaurants to something I want to watch!

Of course at the suggested price of $499 you can bet I'll be using it a lot more then just as a fancy remote control. Sony Canada is expected to be selling the tablet this September.

Phrases that harm productivity

The other day, I had the opportunity to attend my first Design session. These are sessions setup to discuss the design of a particular aspect of a system. It could be a house design, or a new pool, or even a software program. The basic idea is for both the designer/developer and the client to have a clear understanding of what work is to be accomplished. How it should look, feel and work.

I had a great time!, though I was mainly just an observer, I noted the use of several phrases that although they seem simple enough and make a lot of sense. In reality, they actually hamper efforts to "move forward" with a particular aspect of design. Two such phrases that seemed important were;

1) "Let's not do it, until we get it right!"

2) "We have to be consistent in our Design"

Let's examine these a little more closely;

Let's not do it, until we get it Right!

The simple notion here is that there is nothing worse, then designing and coding something only to have to go back and change it all later...and indeed I can show you many statistics that show that software bugs or decisions made early on the in the process have a large increase in cost at the end of the project. The later in a project that a change is introduced the more costly it will be.

However, this is a flaw in this type of thinking because there is no such thing as a "perfect" design. At absolute best the design is only "perfect'' design for a few seconds after the decision is made. Hindsight is always 20/20 and looking back you will always find new and better ways to improve on your design.

In fact, it is a basic continuous improvement process. The trick is not to improve but to carefully time those improvements. If you are on a development project this can be difficult, but decisions will need to be made. Do you go back and rework everything potentially delaying your project end date, or do you push those changes off, and implement them in a later..seperate project?

Sometimes it is better to release early and release often, then to never release at all!

We have to be consistent in our Design

If your working on a very large project with hundreds (or thousands) of moving parts, someone has to be responsible for making sure all those parts fit together, and undoubtedly to do this they will want to make sure the design off one part is consistent with the design off the other parts. Of course, how else will part B fit into part A if they are not both designed to fit together?

The flaw here is that there are many design decisions around part A (usually presentation related) that have nothing to do with Part B (and vice-versa). And while there is no technical reason for these parts of the design to be consistent, there will be those who insist they "must" be. More then often this consistency comes at a price of hundreds of hours of more development work, and scope creep.

So keep this in mind the next time you are in a design change, and you here these phrases!

The Beginners Guide to Tradeshows

My first "real" job was a system administrator at a local small business. I was fresh out of University and I never heard of trade shows like CES or SXSW. My degree was in CS, not in marketing.

But like most small companies, we all have to pitch in, which meant that I had lots of opportunity to learn about lots of different areas of the business including the of those trade show displays.

The two most prominent ways our companies technology was presented to the world was at trade shows and webinars.  Some days it seemed like 90% of our companies budget was spent on traveling to various trade shows around the world.

Of course hind-sight is always 20/20 and looking back.  For example different trade shows attract different kinds of people.  Therefore that one vinyl banner that you make won't work in all trade shows. You have to think about your audience and plan accordingly.

The first area of your plan should be your trade show schedule/budget. Exactly how much will you be spending this fiscal year? Be Frugal.  Attending a different trade show every month is no guarantee  of new customers, but it is a great way to spend a lot of money.. FAST!

At my first job, our product was applicable in a wide variety of industries, but in the beginning the industries did not know anything about our product..in fact, most of them did not even know they had a problem that our product could fix!

So another important tip before embarking into the world of trade shows it to establish what exactly is your goal? Are you trying to sell your product at the trade show? or are you just trying to teach others about your product and bring awareness to the industry?

Okay so you've established your trade show budget, considered your audience and set your trade show goals. Now don't forget to advertise! In my company we did this simply by having a simple calendar on your website (perhaps using google calendar). It listed all of the trade shows that we would be attending in the near future.

Finally, whether or not you "makes sales" at a trade show, remember to build and network.  Hold a contest to attract people to fill out forms for prizes, include in the form their name, business, industry. This can be a great way to gain new sales prospects, even if you don't yet have the actual sales!

Good Luck!

The Busy-ness of Business

Sometimes I wish I had a business degree...not because I need a business degree, but because too often I find those that went to business school think they have all the answers

And who knows maybe they do?  I know I don't have all the answers, I must have read close to 100 books on how to start your own business, how to do a business plan, how to be a consultant, management for dummies.

I've worked for companies with fewer then 30 employees, and I've worked for companies with 30,000+ employees, and no matter what the company, I find it hard to imagine myself as "president" or "CEO".  What type of person does it take to lead a company and make the "tough" decisions. Was it simply a high GMAT score?

I dream sometimes of owning my business, even if it's just a small convenience store, but  I doubt my abilities, I lack the confidence, and no matter how many books I read, or ideas I have, no matter how Busy I am, I don't know if I could make it.  I do see myself as a leader, and I enjoy working with people, and leading teams to success, but I'm pretty sure it takes more then that to president of a company.

Personally I'm partial to Jim Collins notion of Level 5 Leadership and that's what I aspire to, but what do others think?

Bad Customer Servivce at GoDaddy

Sometimes it only takes one bad experience to change your whole view and perception of a company, As can be seen in this GoDaddy customer service story.

Clearly customer service is the number one thing that will keep your customers coming back to you (and recommending) you day after day.  So when you try to mess with your customers, why should you be surprised when they start calling you out for it.

Here is a good example of customer service gone bad, where the company decides to move a users webhost in the name of "good customer service", but in reality it is all a sneaky attempt to squeeze a few more bucks out!

GoDaddy - I hope you learn your lesson

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