April 28th, 2010
By: Kelly Shea
I have always had a bit of an obsession with natural disasters; they are just so universally leveling, which is a pretty tragic and fascinating concept. The recent ash cloud in Iceland captivated me, perhaps beyond what is normal in news obsession, but I wasn’t the only one. The volcano also captivated another market: virtual conferencing technology or the“VC”.
On April 19th Cisco Systems successfully acquired Tandberg. Tandberg was a Norwegian company that was the leading global provider of telepresence and high-definition video conferencing solutions for unified communications. On April 17th (a Saturday) Eyjafjallajokull spewed ash, which consequently spread an ash cloud into the skies of Europe. Flights were halted, airports essentially shut down, and chaos ensued. Vacationers weren’t the only ones stuck in the maze of Charles De Gaulle. Meetings and conferences needed to go on. Instead of gathering live companies were forced to conduct meetings via VC.
“We have seen a huge spike in usage,” Fredrik Halvorsen, the former Tandberg CEO, now head of Cisco’s TelePresence Technology Group, told Reuters on Sunday. “The only evidence is anecdotal, but you will not get a demo room in any of the Cisco facilities.”
(Read the full article here- http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2010/04/19/daily4.html?jst=b_ln_hl)
The world is even more connected than we thought. This financial quarter Cisco can thank Eyjafjallajokull and prime acquisition timing. In the VC world Eyjafjallajokull might be the hot new buzzword. Go ahead- try to pronounce it.
Tags: Business,
Eyjafjallajokull,
Too many vowels,
Virtual Conferencing
Filed under All.
January 25th, 2010
By: Kelly Shea
Recent College Grad/The SNP Part-Timer
I planned on skipping the New Year’s resolutions this year. I admire the ever-hopeful sentiment of resolutions, but I have never managed to truly change my ways. Caffeinated beverages and I have been inseparable since I was twelve. I regard gym memberships as a waste of money, and there is no way I would survive without white bread. These limitations aside, I do have one resolution this year: avoid tech time wasting.
Like many people, I do the majority of my work on a computer. Internet access is essential since I don’t have a PDA or i-phone to alert me to new e-mail. E-mail is where my focus wavers; next I find myself scanning three different newspapers, and even checking the status of my latest Amazon order. After this toxic cycle I naturally become discouraged by my lack of actual productivity. (more…)
Filed under All.
December 11th, 2009
By: Kelly Shea
Recent College Grad/The SNP Part-Timer
Lately at SNP there has been some buzz about e-learning programs. My experience with e-learning has been fairly positive, but certainly not electrifying. Towards the end of my college career, I took an online math course through UC Berkeley. Sitting down to multiple hours of statistics coursework took some serious willpower, but it was convenient to be able to make my own schedule. If I had a question I could e-mail the professor. He always replied with enthusiastic, explanation point riddled messages. I’ve never really felt the need for double punctuation when discussing statistical analysis, but he sure did. It wasn’t quite true human interaction, but at least someone was behind the screen. (more…)
Filed under All.
November 19th, 2009
By: Kelly Shea
Recent College Grad/The SNP Part-Timer
Earlier this week, Renn and I were discussing video communication tools, such as i-chat, vidyo.com and skype. These technologies have made video-conferencing easy and expected in workplaces. For businesses, video conferencing is often more effective than a phone call or e-mail, simply because body language and facial expressions are essential for clear communication. For most people the oft-used “emoticon” - doesn’t really cut it.
About a year ago, I was trained for a new job all via video-conferencing. The woman training me was somewhere in Idaho. For lack of a better place I was in my cramped San Francisco bedroom, which I meticulously cleaned for the video-chat occasion. It is unnerving to know that your face is being projected across the country, especially when the person on the other end is paying you. Video also makes the projected more self-aware. I had interviewed in San Francisco, but the woman in Idaho had never seen me. When I logged on she actually remarked, “I didn’t realize you were so young.” Having no idea how to reply to this comment I just nodded. Then we stared at each other’s digital faces for what felt like an entire minute of silence. (more…)
Filed under All.
November 3rd, 2009
By: Kelly Shea
Recent College Grad/The SNP Part-Timer
Graduating college in the spring of 2009 could be compared to waking up in a twenty foot hole with a spoon and a pen and being told to “get creative” to get yourself out. Graduation weekend was filled with the usual fanfare, and by fanfare I do mean alcohol, and a lingering sense of dread. Graduating into a depressed economy is full of conflicting emotions, both those of accomplishment and failure.
My wisest and more financially stable friends dove right into graduate school, others suddenly claimed that their oft criticized restaurant jobs “really weren’t that bad.” A small percentage promised to pay their gullible parents back for the plane tickets and took off for Europe with a backpack and a credit card. (more…)
Filed under All.
November 3rd, 2009
By: Kelly Shea
Recent College Grad/The SNP Part-Timer
They are often criticized as being self-centered, needy, and arrogant. They want to do everything their own way, which is inherently better than yours. They also seem to have a tough time staying employed. No, I’m not talking about your ex-girlfriend or boyfriend here, but referring to the so-called “millennial generation.”
In case you have missed the avalanche of media criticism for the millennial generation, here is the basic summary: parents and teachers have coddled the millennial generation, and now they are floundering through the recession armed only with an i-phone and a liberal arts degree. (more…)
Filed under All.
February 12th, 2009
- Kyle Mott
I’m the new guy at SNP. While still adjusting to the idea that I will be working with Fortune 500 companies, I have been tapped with the responsibility to drive a video interview series featuring the big-wigs from those very companies.
Now SNP’s got all of the connections we need to find interviewees. If we want top brass from Google, Renn has the number. If we want someone from Oracle, Dave’s got the hookup. Should be simple, right? Align some schedules, bring a camera, and start asking questions.
As I quickly learned, much more goes into it than that.
The critical element is generating the content that the audience (mid to C-level execs) will want to hear. They are extremely busy and unless they see a benefit to watching, they will use their limited time to do something more meaningful.
Well we do know one thing on every executive’s mind right now: weathering this difficult economy. We also know that much can be learned from the approaches that others are taking- as Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, “Our best thoughts come from others.” Bam! There’s our topic for this series. Let’s interview some leaders about their best practices for managing and motivating in this less than favorable business environment. It’s a topic that’s interesting, urgent, and offers applicable information!
Now how do we spread the word about this series? Where should we post the videos? Not sure. This is a work in progress; I’ll keep you posted.
Filed under All.
February 10th, 2009
- Dave Imperiale
This has nothing to do with politics. That would be in poor form. This has to do with non-words, and more specifically, Obama’s “umming.” There is nothing that makes someone sound consistently less confident than umming.
You will notice this almost never happens during his prepared speeches or comments. Not surprising — he’s prepared, knows what he wants to say and has probably practiced a dozen times. It happens every single time he takes Q&A because he has to think off the cuff. So here we have arguably one of the most gifted presidential orators in our history sounding less composed than a well prepared kid on a high school debate team every time he gets a tough question.
What’s particularly maddening is that his communication people don’t force him to fix this. For most people it’s incredibly easy to correct. Three, simple steps:
1. Hear yourself: you can’t correct umming until you hear yourself doing it. Listen for it. If you can’t hear it, record yourself. Once you hear yourself be cognizant of it.
2. Shut up and think: this is the hard part – being comfortable with the silence. But go back and watch one of his answers from last night and imagine him being silent and thinking instead of the long, drawn out umming fits.
3. Speak: after you’ve thought for the 1-2 seconds that feel like a lifetime (only to you), then speak like an intelligent person.
I promise that Favreu, Moran and staff spent days word humping his ten minute address before the questions. While they should probably remove the phrase “ginned up” from his lexicon and vet moronic reporters from asking questions about Arod…for the love of God, coach this guy to keep his mouth shut when he’s thinking about his answers. Or give me two hours with him.
Filed under All, CommTips, Dave Imperiale.
February 2nd, 2009
By Renn Vara
Many companies like ours are scrambling right now. It’s easy to understand why. Large corporations, which are our bread and butter, are seriously cutting staff and budgets. The result is the loss of dependable jobs and projects in the foreseeable future. For those of us who weathered the dotcom fallout, we know what’s coming. Instead of panicking, we know the key to surviving and thriving is to provide value to our longtime customers right now.
Here’s my short list:
>> It sounds counter intuitive, but don’t push your services or products. Instead ask questions and then listen intently. Find out what their pain points are, and determine if your products and services can adjust to help them. It not, don’t waste their time. (more…)
Filed under All.
January 6th, 2009
By Renn Vara
During my catch up reading over the holidays, I came across a number of articles saying this is a time for execution vs. big ideas. Tough times call for doers vs. thinkers I’m afraid. But that’s only half the story. Real execution requires a consistency of behavior, processes and metrics for gauging results. Not as much fun as big ideas but it works.
In his latest book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell makes the same point about successful people. According to Gladwell, studies show that the 10,000 hour rule really works. This is the idea that it takes 10,000 hours to master any instrument. Well, I guess it’s even more important than that. It seems it makes the difference between someone becoming a professional paid musician vs. a high school music teacher. Talent doesn’t even come into play. It’s all about the fundamentals of practice, practice, practice.
So what does this have to do with our current predicament? Well it seems consistency trumps talent or a brilliant idea. The old adage of muscle memory is true. The more you do something, the better you become at that task or function. (more…)
Filed under All.
