Management Craft

Fireside Chat with Wayne Turmel

Why do many webinars suck? Is the middle manager's job getting better or worse? Chat with Wayne Turmel

During this 32 minute podcast, I chat with Cranky Middle Manager podcast host Wayne Turmel. This is a lively discussion about middle management and another topic near and dear to Wayne's heart, tips and techniques for presenting web meetings. Find out why Wayne blames the Stock Market for many middle management woes and what it was like to be the opening act for the band, Chicago. I use to play 25 or 6 to 4 on my trombone, but that is a story for another day. Wayne's Cranky Middle Manager website can be found here and his new website called Great Web Meetings can be found here. I have been a guest on the Cranky Middle Manager show several times and I had a blast turning the tables on Wayne and asking HIM the questions. Check it out!

You can listen to my podcast with the Wayne Turmel by clicking here:

You can also download an MP3 version of the podcast here: MP3 Download

And just a reminder.....

Here is the Podcast Feed for the entire Fireside Chat podcast series:

To see the complete list of podcasts in this series, select the Podcasts and Webcasts category on this blog or see the list on my main website here.

You can also find this series on iTunes (and several other podcast sites), just search under my last name for Fireside Chat.

Virtual Map with Pins?

I have a question. I am planning an extensive trip through the US and I would like to create a virtual route map. What I am looking for is the map of the US (with major highways) with the ability to put virtual pins onto the locations I am thinking of visiting.

I can access the Google map and even found a way to put ONE pin location in, but I want to put lots of pins in and be able to save the map and return to it. I don't mind paying for the program.

Anyone know of such a thing? Thanks!

Blackberry Love - 10 Cool Things About My New Blackberry

I wrote a few days ago about how I lost my cell phone and decided to take the plunge into Blackberry Land. Well, everything is still new, but so far, I am tickled by a few things:

1. I love the way the 8700C looks and feels. I love being able to customize the screen's look with pictures and formats. I have a glowing desert scene and cool colors.

2. I love the way mobile Gmail works on the Bberry. It looks good, loads fast, and when I delete a message, it is deleted. When I respond to a gmail message, a message goes into my sent file in the main gmail program too. So the work I do with messages on my Bberry does not have to be repeated.

3. I love being able to sync with the Mac. Blackberry has teamed up with Pocket Mac and so the program is free for all Blackberry users. It works great for contacts and my calendar. You can sync mail too, but I am not using this function (I am going with mobile gmail for email).

4. You know, I'm a girl. And I like something OTHER than black leather office accessories. So I was pleased to find several more interesting cases for my Bberry. I've got one coming from eBay this week.

5. The Blackberry browser looks good. I have my home page set for Google with weather and news headlines.

6. I like some of the smart shortcuts Blackberry built into the device. These make typing and sending emails easier and faster. Also, when browsing, it knows you when you are typing a URL and makes that easier too. And there are other smart things - like being able to dial the phone from the main screen (you don't have to select phone first) and I have several frequent numbers programmed - like "H" for home. All I do is hit and hold H and it calls home. I know, simple things.....

7. I love how the address book integrates with the Bberry's functions. If I am typing an email, I just put in the first letter of the recipient and all of my contacts with that letter pop up as options. Keep typing the name if you need to narrow the list, but otherwise just go click and you're done. I also love that you can go to the address book, select a person and then from there, call him or her, email him or her or text him or her.

8. I like that it compares all of my contacts when a call comes in. And I love that I don't have to worry about loosing all my data because it is synced with my Mac.

9. I like having a couple keys I can program for applications I use a lot. I have one key set to go right to gmail and one for the internet home page.

10. It's fun having new toys.... And this one shows lots of promise.

Blog Tools for Super Geeks - Blog from Mathematica

My husband Bill shared this link with me and thought you might be interested. Mathematica - a pretty powerful and expensive computational software program is now offering add ons for everyday life stuff.

"A WorkLife FrameWork is an Extendable and Customizable ToolSet for All Mathematica Users that broadens Mathematica's scope across many aspects of your daily work."

It even allows you to blog using Mathematica's graphical and typesetting capabilities. Wow - that's super geek (I mean that in the nicest way). Bill is a superuser of Mathematica in the arena of geology, even having written a book about its uses.

It's interesting to think about why a company like Mathematica would do this. They seem to be looking to deepen the relationship its users have with the software.

Have you noticed that we seem to be able to blog from almost any program these days?

I think we are all getting tired of single solution applications. This extends to software programs and also our gadgets. I have so many power adapters and chargers I cannot keep them all straight.

I want one stop shopping and I want to be able to do everything.

Maybe that's the vibe Mathematica is picking up on. That said, I don't know how these features will help sell more Mathematica licenses, which go for about $2,000 a pop or more. I would doubt that people would spend the big bucks on this program because they can journal and blog. It must be an after sale loyalty enhancement strategy.....

New Podcast and Webcast Page

I added a page to my main website for all my webcasts and podcasts. Check it out here.

If you are a newer reader of Management Craft, check out the podcasts I did last year.

Over the next month, I will be adding several more podcasts and perhaps a couple more webcasts.

I am calling it my Virtual Fireside Chat Room.

Thanks to artist Jon Conkey for creating the above painting for me to use as a branding element for all my podcasts and webcasts. Jon lives in New Mexico and in addition to his main website where his larger works are featured, he has a great blog called Themeworks where he posts one small painting a day that he does to hone his skills and spur creativity. He is numbering the paintings 1-365 and he is currently on number 83. This one is my favorite so far. I love paintings of the Rio Grande Gorge.

Trouble with AOL - Help!

As you know, my mother passed away last month. She had AOL. My sister has been trying to get AOL to cancel her account for nearly a month. They keep telling her that only the person who signed up for the account can cancel it. She explains that our mother died and even offers to send a copy of the death certificate as proof. The phone representatives are being very difficult and uncooperative. The billing is on an account that we have left open (and my sister is a signor) to handle expenses related to the sale of her Cape Coral condo. In her last phone call with AOL, she mentioned that if they did not cancel the account, she would close the account they use for billing. They said they would find some other way to bill her - can you believe that?!?

Do any of you know someone higher up the food chain at AOL that my sister can talk to? This is really ridiculous. AOL is being a major pain in the rear at a time when we seek help and compassion. Why would they be such jerks? My mother is gone. The phone line she used to dial into AOL is disconnected. The computer she used is gone.

By acting this way, they may get one or two more months of payment but they lose future customers.

Get Focused - My New Lens on Squidoo

OK - I took the plunge. I considered all the feedback I received about Squidoo and decided to create a lens. Seth said it would take 20 minutes, but it took quite a bit longer than that (Seth, in 20 minutes you have a shell, not an interesting lens!).

My lens is about getting focused. You can see my lens here.

Please let me know if you like it and if you think I should add anything to it. I did not want it to be duplicative to the blog. Please feel free to rate it as well (they have a star system, I would be tickled to get lots of stars).

I will keep you updated on how the experiment goes and what I get from the experience!

Should I Squidoo?

I have to admit, I don't yet get Squidoo. I would love to hear from a couple people who have lenses on the pros and cons of being a lensmaster.

Are you getting lots of exposure? Or better exposure?
How do you know if your lens is effective?
Should I have a lens as a business author? Why?
Would the lens be specific to a book or more general?

I have never done a Google search and had a Squidoo lens come up. Am I just not searching for the right stuff? Hoe do people find your lens?

I appreciate your feedback. I do not want to add another communication vehicle that needs to be updated to my regimen, but I also don't want to ignore something I ought to be doing to strengthen my reach to potential readers.

You can leave a comment so everyone learns or you can pop me an email at lhaneberg AT gmail DOT com.

The BEST Software Tool for Writers!

If you are a regular reader, you might notice that I often don’t post on the weekend and when I do, it tends to be off the topic of management or leadership (the Seattle library, Luna Bars, etc..).

Today is no exception. I have been thinking about posting about this for a while, but struggled with the “sales pitch” nature of it.

Since it is the weekend, I decide just to go for it and say what I want to say.

You will notice that I have an advertisement on the right hand column of the blog for StyleWriter.

Yes, I have signed up as an affiliate.

YES, it is a wonderful product and the reason I have signed up as an affiliate for this product.

StyleWriter is editing software like none other, and I have looked high and low (tell you why in a minute). It works with Word (and other word processors, I think). You type your document normally, you then click on the StyleWriter icon on the top of your Word screen and it analyzes your document. A pop up editing screen shows up over your document and it takes you through all the recommended changes. The changes are made directly in your Word document for you. It catches all kinds of stuff that the other programs do not. You can set the editor to analyze the document for a variety of writing styles, too, like report, letter, academic, technical and other styles.

Two years ago, when I was writing my book, High Impact Middle Management, I was an OK writer, but needed help and development. At first, my poor husband, who is a great editor, had to slog through each chapter, marking them up and returning them to me. He went through a lot of red pens! I got StyleWriter after I had written a few chapters. I started putting each chapter through StyleWriter before handing them to my husband, and the number of his marks went down to nearly nothing. And what I love about StyleWriter is that I am finding that each time I screen a document, my scores are a bit better to start off with.

In other words, it is teaching me to be a better writer!

I love this program. Love it. Love it. Love it.

I switched from PC to Mac about a year ago. There was only one HUGE drawback that almost changed my mind. StyleWriter does not come in a version for Mac. I searched high and low for something that would do the same things as StyleWriter, even purchasing or previewing a few programs. Nope! Nothing was nearly as comprehensive.

So my solution? As you see in this picture I took today, I have my old PC set up beside my ibook and I use the PC version of StyleWriter whenever I am writing something important (and no, I did not put this post through StyleWriter). I put my document on a memory stick and take it over to the PC, analyze and fix it, then bring it back over to the Mac. (Oops - I just noticed that another Lovemark of mine is in the picture - Advil Liqui-gels :-)

I even asked the company that makes StyleWriter if I could partner with them to bring a Mac version into being. They said that they are working on a web version that would work with Mac (still a bit in the future).

So this is my long winded way to say: If you write stuff and you want to improve, try StyleWriter.

The program is neither cheap nor expensive at $160 (this comes with several other programs for writers). If you click on any of the links, you can get a 30 day review disk with several other programs for just $30. Personally, it has been worth every penny to me and more. You can also click for more information.

Ok, that’s my pitch. Yes, I will make money if you buy using my link and that would be a beautiful thing. But also, it’s a Lovemark for me and I think it can help all but the already perfect writers.

Web Meeting Vendors - Who to Select?

I am going to be doing some webinars, but have not yet selected the vendor. The two biggies are MS Live Meeting and Webex. I would like to go with the product that is both PC and Mac friendly and has the fewest technical limitations for attendees, and is easy to use. I also like the ability to send reminders and push handouts.

I have heard conflicting stories, so I thought I would throw it out to you. What have your used? Which vendor do you recommend and why? What are the key things I need to watch out for?

Any other ideas?

Thanks so much!