Once again I was at a business event where it was recommended that we send a text message to business contacts. In fact, the story was told that one business person requested that a text message be sent to him while he was in the middle of a business meeting. And why did everyone think this was a good idea? In any and every given situation, it is acceptable to check for and respond to a text message.
Phone texting is in. I am amazed at the thumb dexterity of those that do text. Perhaps part of the fascination with texting is attaining mastery over the keyboard. It is apparently quick and efficient for the expert texters to communicate.
In the state of Georgia, legislation is being considered to ban texting while driving. (While they are at it, they should also limit cell phone use while driving.) And the anti-texting law would apply to all drivers, not just teenagers. I am amazed that any adult would think it’s a good idea to text and drive. A couple of people operating public transit trains were fired for texting on the job. Keep your eyes on the road! Have we all gone crazy?
Anyone else over 50 who doesn’t even know how to text message?
I have never sent a text message. I do have a cell phone. And, I have received text messages. But I was delighted to find out that I could turn the text message feature off. If a text message was free, it would be one thing. But the cell phone, blackberry, iphone and other device providers, have those pesky little charges for text messages. Charges for something that was of no value. It was a cost benefit decision for me.
Are there good uses for Texting?
I’ve heard someone saying that the elderly could text for help in a crisis. Not sure it’s feasible for the senior population to text. I’m a long ways from being elderly, but I don’t text. And, in a crisis situation, you’re only likely to do something that you’re totally comfortable with. So, probably not a good use for texting.
Then there is the earthquake tragedy in Haiti. That is a good use of texting.
Wyclef Jean, a musician from Haiti, has arranged for
$5 donations to be made by texting “YELE” to 501501 or a
$10 donation by texting “HAITI” to 501501.
$10 donations can also be made to the Red Cross by texting “HAITI” to 90999.
Not sure how this works, but I assume the cell phone companies will make the donation and add the charge to your cell phone bill.
I’m not ready to turn the texting capability back on my cell phone yet. We’ll see what develops.
Well the actual term is tweeter. When you make an entry into Twitter, you are tweeting. And what is Twitter? It’s called a micro-blog. Tweets are limited to 140 characters of data. The idea is to share what you’re doing at that moment. People who care about what you’re doing will sign up to follow you. They get entries in their Twitter account whenever people they are following make tweets.
So, now I’m confessing. My blog post titled “Business People Over 50 – Who are we?” ended with the statement “no twittering for me”. Well, I’ve learned to never say never. I admit that I am now twittering or more correctly tweeting.
The younger set primarily uses text messaging to do their tweets. I turned that feature off on my phone. Since I have no texting capability, I assumed I would never do tweets. However, I discovered ping.fm. It allows me to use the internet to enter my tweets. And the beauty of ping.fm is that it sends my postings to multiple social networks. So, my entries are simultateously sent Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Plaxo Pulse and now Delicious. Ping.fm makes it easy to actively participate in the Web 2.0 social networks.
There are those who allegedly use Twitter for business. I’ve attended teleseminars on the business use of Twitter as well as on the business use of Facebook. Business people under age 50 are using Twitter and other social networks. I have my doubts about the participation of the over 50, senior citizen group. I’m on Twitter and I’m over 50. I’m making a concerted effort to keep up with web 2.0, internet marketing and other new technologues and techniques. The purpose for this blog is to share my journey with other AARP qualifiers. Hopefully, I can help ease the process for my contemporaries.
Not convinced about the benefits. But for now, I’m trying Twitter.
Internet marketing success is about being found on the web. Alexa is one of those services which determines how well a website is organically positioned. Organic ranking means that the search engines have evaluated your site and determined how well it matches your search terms. There are billions of sites on the World Wide Web, so a good search ranking does not come by accident. There are consulting firms that specialize in what is called search engine optimization (SEO). Noble & Associates Consulting is now offering internet marketing consulting services also.
SEO is more than optimizing your website for your keywords in isolation. There are other tools and techniques to boost your ranking. It’s about volume – how many times you appear and are linked to on the web. And in the World Wide Web / Web 2.0 circles you hear the motto “Content is King”. The more content there is on the web associated with your name and your site, the better your SEO and organic ranking.
So what do I mean by: less is better? Winning sports teams say they are #1. In Alexa, the lower number / rank the better. A rank of 1 means that this is the most frequently searched for and accessed website out of all the websites in the world. Being in the top million is an impressive list. See the even more impressive Alexa top 100 list.
Get the *FREE* report,
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by visiting http://www.Internet-Marketing-SEO-Success.com
An organizational change discussion was introduced with the following “How many process improvement consultants does it take to change a light bulb? One, but only if the light bulb really wants to change.” The topic’s title included the word “inertia” indicating that change is resisted. So how do you reduce resistance? Regardless of the type of change being implemented, a successful project always requires support from the top of the organization. Management support and directives motivate people.
Even when people are highly motivated, change can be stressful and scary. As we age and move into the over 50, senior citizen ranks, it is more difficult to change. The spirit may be willing, but the flesh is weak or inflexible. People issues have crippled project of all kinds project – whether technology or process, or organizational structure or management. Stress and post implementation distress must be expected and accommodated.
Bottom line: To make an organizational change successful, it has to be well planned, with simple steps that are well communicated.
See the July Newsletter for details about Michael Nearman of AGSI who addressed the June 2008 Atlanta SPIN (Software & Systems Process Improvement Network) meeting.
Powell Goldstein’s e-Newsletter included the article titled “Businesses and Their Employees Should Reconsider Taking Laptops and PDAs Abroad”. The reason for concern is a recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision. The ruling gives custom’s agents the right to search electronic files without reasonable suspicion.
Currently, there have been no abuses of this ruling. But, businesses should consider the impact of trade secrets and sensitive data being accessed and copied by customs agents and Homeland Security personnel. Should you leave home without your beloved electronic devices? Get POGO’s article.
I started this blog to explore issues of interest to business people age 50 or over. They could be run of the mill employees or decision makers in large corporations or business owners / entrepreneurs.
Found a kindred blog written by someone who appears to be from both Canada and the United States. She provides a definition of business baby boomers in the post What are Small Business Boomers?
Since I plan to live to age 120 or longer, I don’t personally think of myself as middle aged, let alone a senior citizen. Theoretically baby boomers can include some 40 something people.
But, I’m sticking with the AARP definition, because I think there is a technology and cultural divide that starts around age 50.
Do you know anyone over 50 who likes text messaging?
How many of the over 50s even utilize that tool?
An over 50 friend of mine told me that I could turn off the text messaging capability on my phone. Without delay, I got that done.
So no Twittering for me.
(And if you don’t know what that means, you’re one of us.)
Down in the trenches, business analysts are the ones tasked with developing business cases for IT application development. And, in the process, smoothing relations among competing parties and moving projects along.
Read the whole ““Why Business Analysts Are So Important for IT and CIOs” article in CIO.com
Despite the debate about whether there is officially a recession, in 2008 many Americans are suffering. Those in the top income brackets are unaffected. But the fuel prices / crisis is impacting all but the super rich in this country.
It doesn’t help to hear that Europeans and citizens of many other countries have long been faced with high gas prices. Or that, people in many countries are accustomed to spending much higher percentages of their incomes on necessities like food and clothing. Any decrease in standard of living is traumatic. The post World War II American dream was that the standard of living would be higher for our children. But that expectation is changing. All change requires adjustments. And the fear and stress associated with financial downturns can have profound effects on health and emotional well being.
As in software or technology implementations, satisfaction and success comes when the impacted people / users / employees embrace the changes. This is not automatic, especially in large scale implementations and projects. The consultants at Noble & Associates Consulting, Inc have found that change is rarely embraced unless change management programs have been put in place.
Americans who manage to still have adequate disposal incomes, are still vacationing. US travelers to Europe are shocked and disheartened by the lack of buying power of the US dollar. Other Americans are just bemoaning the fact that they either have less spending money or that the money they do have does not go as far.
So how can Europe be of benefit to the United States and it’s de facto recession economy? I saw a Managing Automation blog post about increased interest in procuring good, services and workers from the US. Due to close quarters and limited land mass, small cars have been in vogue in Europe. Our automakers are fighting for survival. As US automakers finally get on the fuel efficient bandwagon, perhaps they can sell more cars domestically and internationally. And, as suggested by the “Manufacturers Set to Take Advantage of the Downturn” article, perhaps the laid off engineer or executive should be floating their resumes overseas.
Knowledge Shop (at the far corner of the Wal-Mart parking lot) MariettaTradeCenter 180 Cobb Pkwy SE #C-24 Marietta, GA30060
In this seminar you will
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Prerequisites:
· Knowledge of Windows, Microsoft Office products: Word, Excel, Outlook
· Beginning level experience with the Internet
Specific topics include:
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I was perusing BPM Strategies magazine and came across the term “applistructure “. Applistructure has to do with the convention of combining enterprise infrastructure and enterprise business applications. Service-oriented architecture (SOA) refers to a web centric / web focused approach to technology. According to the “SOA and Application Infrastructure” article by Mike Rosen, this applistructure trend was hot a couple of years ago. Can you relax? Or, as Mr. Rosen suggests, can you take comfort in knowing that solving management and business process issues are more critical to enterprise success than the actual technology?
I attended the Atlanta AFCEA (Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association) February 2008 meeting. The speaker, Mr. Joe Capps talked about the subject of moving to enterprise level systems and procurement processes. Instead of haphazardly developing technology in an “after the fact” manner, he advocated a more proactive approach – as in developing a strategy to move toward enterprise infrastructure, enterprise business applications and enterprise technology in general.
Additionally, a key imperative of the Department of Defense (DoD) is to change and accelerate the requirement to solution process. What’s known as Moore’s Law (based on Gordon Moore’s predictions about semiconductors), says that technology is rapidly changing. Probably about every 18 months. Where there is a need for the latest technology, Moore’s Law has financial, logistical and feasibility implications. The government and the DoD are known for red tape and cumbersome processes. But our country’s ability to respond to immediate threats requires current, accurate information delivered to those needing it in a timely fashion. He suggested the criticality of providing our war fighters with decision making data on how to even respond to five guys running down a street in Iraq. Wow!
Moore’s Law has implications in the private sector as well. Large scale technology projects often take 18 months or more to implement. That time is in addition to the time required to budget for, select and procure the software, hardware, and implementation partners. While ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), CRM (Customer Relationship Management), MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) and the like, may not be obsolete, there are sure to be upgrades, patches (corrections and fixes to software problems) and new feature by the time the system is finally rolled out.
So, what can be done? Knowledgeable consultants with system expertise can help companies and public sector entities develop a strategy and select the right software in the first place. Then, the right implementation partners can accelerate and provide Independent Verification and Validations (IV&V), project management and governance throughout the implementation process. If none of these things were in place or addressed during the course of the technology project, then you’ll probably need the cure for the “Post Implementation Distress” that is sure to occur.
You’re spending millions of dollars for enterprise initiatives. Wouldn’t it be worth spending a small percentage on ensuring that you get what you paid for? Perhaps you need a technical advocate to help you navigate through the planning and implementation process.
