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Technology News You Can UseAugust 2008 – Issue XXXVIIIIn This Newsletter
Letter from the Editor, Paul O'Bannon, Grande CommunicationHello again, and welcome to another batch of news you can use! This issue may be a little different from what you have grown accustomed. In addition to articles brought to you by our homegrown talent on your Technology Council, we are pulling in some outside resources to help us all understand some critical information to our businesses. We will even step a little outside of our zone with an article from Matt Scherer. We are extremely fortunate to have a public relations professional on our committee, and Matt offers a piece on how to communicate about technology to those who may not possess the “geekish” nature required to otherwise understand. Marci Parrish steps up again with tremendous insights on seeking the proper technology personnel for your business. David Clark brings us a topic that is near and dear to all of our hearts (don’t panic!), and this is maximizing your investment in tradeshow booths. Sure, this is outside the zone again, but we all spend the money so why not get a return on the investment, right? Patrick's article on Kwiry provides an interesting angle on technology and information. Finally, we’re including some links to articles on a topic that every business absolutely needs to think about. Sure, we all think about it but how many of us actually DO anything about it? Disaster recovery and business continuity. The first of these is an article in something of a Top Ten format, click here to view the web blog article. What you’ll find is some easy-to-read, thought provoking information on what needs to guide your thinking. The second article/manual offers the detail you need to make it happen; it even includes checklist templates. Click here to access Your Technology Council worries about you. We want you to seriously consider what would happen if, for example, you lost power at your primary business location for 7 hours. You have to know what to do!
Employers Actively Seeking "Passive" Candidates for IT Jobs Marci Parrish, TechniSource, A Division of SpherionAs technology workers continue their evolution from low-profile worker bees to irreplaceable assets, hiring top candidates has become harder. As a result, more companies are targeting passive candidates – those who are happily employed elsewhere but could be persuaded to switch for the right opportunity. The challenge is finding them. Since they are “passive,” or not actively looking, their resumes aren’t in circulation and they aren’t immediately visible. What’s needed to locate, entice and land these elusive gems is a mix of tested and emerging strategies. Take heart: The IT person you need is just waiting to be found, even if he or she doesn’t know it yet. Internet a hotbed of untapped talent The Internet is a second home for many IT people. They are on professional networking sites, such as LinkedIn, and social networking sites. These sites provide a great opportunity for initiating contact, seeking referrals or delving into professional qualifications. There are also numerous online industry blogs, discussion boards, trade publications and organizations. Consider commenting on or starting a blog or Twitter feed. Being part of the action is a strategy that works. Personal networking still an unmatched tool Whether it’s connecting with current and former colleagues, alumni, friends or neighbors, networking is powerful. It can be as simple (and focused) as asking professional contacts to name the three or four smartest people they’ve worked with. Seminars, conferences and meetings are also great places to make connections. Professionals who take the time to educate themselves about developments in the field are the kind of self-motivated, forward-thinking workers businesses crave. Getting Close to Candidates: What have I done for you lately? Successful recruiters are equal parts career coach and sympathetic friend. They focus on the candidate – what does he need, what does she want, what’s lacking in the current job? Many people, once they’ve settled into a job, lose track of what’s going on in the market. Providing them with substantive information on pay, trends and opportunities is a great service – and one that is sure to be appreciated. Expand the Job, Widen Your Net People working in similar jobs are just the beginning. Outside that sphere are teachers, vendors, consultants, even non-tech businesspeople with an interest in and knack for IT. As more companies seek IT pros with management and operations skills, it makes sense to look beyond purely technical expertise. A top candidate may have specific knowledge, such as network security or finance, or skills such as project management.
Recruiting passive candidates will become even more critical as the IT job market tightens further. For candidates, the hope is that they will be pleasantly surprised to find that good things happen -- even when you’re not looking for them. A Primer for Technical Writing, Matt Scherer, Scherer CommunicationsAs a young airman serving in my first public affairs office, I remember how my colleague, SSgt. Fred Spriggs had a framed photo of Max Baer, Jr., the actor who played Jethro Bodine on the "Beverly Hillbillies" behind his desk. Whenever someone wanted to contributed a highly technical article to the base newspaper and not have it edited, Fred would point to the picture of Jethro. As Fred would often say: "If Jethro can't understand it, we can run it. That's the reading level of the folks who pick up the base newspaper." Then, he would tell his would be contributor that they needed to work with him to have it rewritten or not have it published. I've read a lot of documents from technical and communication executives that would confuse most people. Written at a level geared towards someone who has a doctorate or master's degree level, they write a proposal or web copy as if they are completing an academic thesis. Instead, they should be writing it at a much lower grade level so that folks like Larry the Cable Guy can understand it. For those who want to write well but want to reach those at a lower grade level, it's important to consider the Fog index. Most newspapers are written at a Fog index of eighth or ninth grade. Their editors understand the need to convey their thoughts to someone with a grammar school education. Here's the formula for determining the Fog index of any manuscript.
While the formula seems pretty straight forward, here are some writing techniques to lower the Fog index for that next proposal or web copy: Write to express not impress. Mark Twain noted that if there is a one or two syllable word that can convey a thought, it's better to use that instead of its three or four syllable cousin. While there are some three or four syllable words that truly convey a thought, many have one or two-syllable cousin that work just as well. · Watch the length of those sentences. Many writers like to express themselves with 30 or more words per sentence. To lower the Fog Index and make it easier for a document's readers, break them up into ones that average about 14 words. · Spell out those acronyms. While VOIP is well understood in most circles, it's best to spell that term as "Voice over Internet Protocol" in the first reference. By writing "XYZ company can capitalize on the Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) of our technology," a person not familiar with the acronym can easily understand the author's message. Writing at a lower Fog Index takes practice and editing. Dropping the use of those acronyms is also difficult. However, writers who have a visual picture of Jethro Bodine or Larry the Cable Guy reading their text will become more effective in expressing their thoughts if they follow these simple guidelines. (Matt Scherer, the owner of Scherer Communications, lowered his Fog index of this article from the 11th grade to the ninth grade with some simple edits to this article.) Trade Show Booths 101, submitted by David Clark, SATAINow that you’ve decided to attend this trade show what about your booth? Too many companies just create some complicated signage then put out a bowl of candy and a stack of business cards. In putting together your trade show booth always begin with a clear understanding of your objectives for the booth. Most want the booth to be a source of sales leads. There may be, however, secondary purposes: announce a new product or service, recruit new employees, VOC (Voice of Customer) data on a potential new product, etc. Once you are clear as to the objectives you can think about booth design. Now . . . Imagine this: You’re standing proudly in your gorgeous new trade show exhibit, flanked by your boss at the opening of your major industry show. The first attendee approaches, staring at the beautiful edifice you helped create -- only to ask, “So… what is it that you do?” Ouch! To get your message across and avoid hearing that painful question, ask yourself these questions first · Do your exhibit graphics say who you are, what you do, and what is your benefit to them? When you state those clearly, you’ll bring in more visitors – and more qualified visitors. · Are you trying to say too much? Trade show attendees walking down the aisle only have time to look at graphics, not read paragraphs. Go for impact over information. Big, bold images and concise copy rule the show floor. · Are the words on your exhibit legible? Look out for text that is too small, has low contrast to its background, a type font so “creative” it can’t be read, or is hidden by other exhibit components. · Are your graphics sharp? The digital graphic file that was sharp enough for your brochure may be too small to create high resolution large format exhibit graphics. · Does your exhibit look like it represents the same company as your other customer touch points – such as your web site, direct mail, or magazine ads? Integrated marketing communications are more memorable than completely different looks in different mediums. Consider the use of a test monkey. Before you take your booth to a trade show, get someone in your building to come by, stand 10 feet in front of your booth for 30 seconds, then tell you what your company is all about. This will tell you if you are communicating with the correct messaging. Once the design is in place think also about:
Kwiry Patrick Felty, Fintan TechnologiesThe information age is hard to keep up with sometimes. I like to say that I did not grow up IN the Information Age. Instead, I feel that I grew up WITH the Information Age. Since the moment I turned on my Commodore 64, I was hooked. Making stick figures dance on a green screen and dialing into chat rooms that were chaotic at best only made me hungrier for better technology. As technology progressed over the years and closed networks became the World Wide Web, my hunger for technology started to focus more on information, information about anything, even information about just plain useless stuff. There is so much information readily available to us now that it is very easy to find out anything about everything. The problem that I have and I am sure that most people have is that we have so much information in our heads that when we see or hear something we want more information about, we have a tendency to forget what it is before we can get in front of a computer to Google it. Sure, we could jot down those tidbits of information on notepads or put it into some type of list on our PDA or phone. But what if we had a service that could take those tidbits and actually do some of the research for us? Not too long ago, a company in
After signing up on kwiry's website, you can start sending text messages to "kwiry," or "59479 (k-w-i-r-y)". The messages can be about anything you want to follow up on. For example, I was traveling a few days ago and heard part of a song that reminded me of one of my college roommates. I did not know what the name of the song was or who the artist was; I just remembered something about a keg in a closet. So, I texted ‘keg in a closet’ to my kwiry account. When I got to my hotel room, I logged onto my kwiry account and found no less than 10 web links to Kenny Chesney’s latest hit song including were to download ring tones and even a Karaoke version. Once again, feeding my hunger for useless information. The service can also send you links and additional information to you via email. One other aspect of the service is that it will allow you to organize your thoughts and even tasks you have assigned yourself. Recent enhancements allow you to add movies to your Netflix queue and add products to your Amazon Wishlist. On the social network side, you can invite friends to view your kwirys and even set up public kwirys. When you sign up for the service, you are asked to provide your zip code so that it can also focus on local searches such as shopping or eating. I can imagine that eventually they may even add concierge services. As for me, any tool I can use to help me to remember all the things in need to do or want to know, the better.
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