A Podcaster: The New Me

I'm one of those individuals that really has to force myself to try new things, specifically new technologies. The reason could be age related. I still have memories of typewriters, carbon paper and blue fingers. However, I know people in my age group that embrace new technologies and eagerly await the release of the latest tools into the marketplace.

I've decided my problem is that I am in a rut and need to climb out of it. How can I do this? By reaching outside the boundaries I've boxed myself into. So, I'm learning how to create a Podcast. I bought a "Quamut: how to do it" guide in the bookstore. They had several guides on different topics, including Podcasting. The guide contains step by step instructions on creating an audio podcast.

The term "podcasting" is a combination of the words iPod and broadcasting. It refers primarily to the distribution of audio content over the internet. However, video podcasting is becoming more popular.

Here's a general overview of how podcasting works.

1. A podcaster creates, plans, edits, records and publishes the podcast. Most podcasts are published as MP3 files, because they use less memory than other audio files. This make it easier to upload and download the file.

2. The podcast is published to the internet. It is uploaded to a website and is made available through an RSS feed.

3. People subscribe to the podcast using special RSS reader software programs, "podcatchers or "podcast aggregators." The RSS reader software will download the podcast to the subscribers computer.

4. Once the podcast is downloaded, you can listen to it on your computer or on a digital music player, like an iPod.

Sounds easy, right? Well I'm about to find out. My hands are on the edges of the rut and I'm pulling myself up . Let's see if I can actually pull myself out. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Lorraine

The Newbie Podcaster

A Short Guide to Successful Training Concepts

When it comes to training, teaching, educating or enlightening people, there are some very simple concepts that can make or break a session or lecture.  Actually, there are only two major things to contend with and a few minor issues you should be aware of.  First though, think about all of those mind-numbing experiences that made you hate attending some training initiative and identify exactly what it was that made them so ghastly and then I'll attempt to provide some sound advice...

Content Knowledge - There have been a few times that I recall looking forward to learning something new or interesting that would benefit me or my work flow in some way only to find out that the instructor was a little shaky when it came to understanding the content.  The delivery was chock-full of backtracking and apologies and in some cases was so distracting that you couldn't even feel bad for the person... instead you felt cheated of an hour taken from your life that you would never reclaim.  We are all busy boys and girls and having someone waste your time attempting to explain something they have a very tenuous grasp of can be infuriating.

My tip to those of you thrown to the wolves is to take the time to learn the most important aspects, even if it means staying up all night when you have short notice.  Confidence is great to have, but unwarranted confidence can sometimes backfire.  If you are not comfortable talking about a topic because of unfamiliarity, your best bet is to not talk about it.  Don't attempt to get up in front of the masses, or even a couple of people to explain something if you are not 100% prepared to act confident and then back it up with some good strong examples and enough understanding to make you feel comfortable.

Style - Content knowledge is absolutely important, but it isn't everything.  Just like people in film and the theater you need to know your lines, and how to deliver them.  Just because someone has one of those covered, does not mean they will be successful.  Quite the contrary.  How many times have you been in a lecture or session and had to remind yourself that you were not in some sort of purgatory-like limbo?  The person leading the session is undeniably knowledgeable, but the Ben Stein monotone, or constant long pauses for thoughtful consideration make the experience an exercise in sleep deprivation.  You want to close your eyes and succumb to the lethargy emanating from the speaker, but you know that you need to stay awake.  You almost feel robbed of slumber when the speaker finishes and you didn't even net a good 15 minute nap out of it. 

It takes a good deal of acting ability to be a superior trainer or teacher.  The showmanship of a session is just as important as understanding the topic and knowing your audience is part of that.  Organization of your content also falls under style as you need to have a fairly solid set of objectives, yet the flexibility to go off topic occasionally to keep it light, fresh and entertaining.  Even the most stultifying topics can be made entertaining to some degree if you have a few good analogies to tie the boring to something more understandable.  I used to have a running catalogue of thousands of analogies that expanded constantly, and I would use them to make a stronger connection with my students.  These analogies invariably were delivered with input from the audience, even if I deliberately baited them into talking by conveniently forgetting a simple term so that someone could provide it and I could say "Exactly!" and they then felt like they were playing a greater roll in the experience.  I don't mean to make it seem more calculated than it is, but it is these little tricks that help to engage your audience.

The Minor Issues - There are plenty of little obstacles and hazards waiting to sabotage a lesson, lecture or session and we'll look at those the next time I blog.  Right now I have to get back to preparing for my SLA Tech Zone for Seattle.  Feel free to ask questions or give a scenario where my advice might be beneficial and I'll be happy to do what I can to lend a hand.  :)

Regards,

Thomas

CONVERGE \ CONNECT \ COMMUNICATE

Just last week I attended the 22nd annual AIIP (Association of Independent Information Professionals) conference in Pittsburgh, PA at the beautiful Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel as a vendor representing Dow Jones & Company. This gathering of roughly 122 professional researchers all had the opportunity to Converge, Connect and Communicate with each other from April 30 – May 4, 2008. Although a relatively small group when it comes to conference numbers, AIIP members are a lively bunch who love to network and consume information. The organizers of the conference promised a busy schedule packed with pre-conference workshops, vendor training, general sessions facilitated by wonderful speakers, roundtable discussions and numerous networking opportunities.

INTIMATE is the word I would use to describe the venue setting, and PASSIONATE is the word I would use to describe most of the attendees. One of my roles during this conference was to provide vendor training for our Dow Jones Factiva product. Dow Jones Factiva is an award-winning service with powerful tools to monitor your competitors, customers, and industry, while also conducting in-depth research, gathering company financial data, and more. I delivered two training sessions to the attendees:

1) Factiva.com Overview: The Best Choice for Global Business Information
2) Factiva Search 2.0: Build Competitive Advantage with a Simple Search

During my first session, I had about 15 attendees who were quite engaged and asked many questions, especially when it came to talking about the Discovery Pane within our Factiva Search 2.0 component of Factiva.com. This great feature further analyzes your search results providing you with visual cues and insight. When I delivered my second session which focused primarily on the Factiva Search 2.0 component, the majority of the attendees stayed from the first session with new faces also in attendance. Here is where I truly learned how much these people love to consume knowledge and information.

Over the next couple days, my colleague and I sat at our exhibit table and mingled with attendees and other vendors while continuing to demonstrate the many features of our Dow Jones Factiva product to everyone who stopped by. I can’t remember many moments when I wasn’t engaged in conversation with someone who wanted to know if they could find specific information from our award winning product. The 3rd day of the conference, there was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to get to know each other when they announced that we all had to walk up to a microphone and provide a 30 second introduction of ourselves. During this time, AIIP presented several awards to their members which included:

*Myra T. Grenier Award
*Sue Rugge Memorial Award
*Roger Summit Conference Sponsorship
*AIIP President’s Award
*Connections Writer’s Award

As I said earlier, AIIP members are an intimate group who are passionate about what they do and who they meet, so this really made many of the first time attendees (both members and vendors) feel welcomed.

I departed the conference early Saturday morning for my flight back into the Philadelphia area. However, another networking opportunity was planned for that evening as the AIIP folks were having a gala banquet aboard a historical Riverboat that would cruise them along all 3 Pittsburgh rivers. I left the conference and once I was home pondered those three C’s: CONVERGE, CONNECT and COMMUNICATE. If I learned to embrace these 3 words in all of my endeavors as the AIIP attendees did back in Pittsburgh, could I somehow portray that same passion no matter what the circumstance?

Ciao,
Vinnie

Corporate $ocial Responsibility – A Deal Maker or a Deal Breaker?

Let’s continue the “green” theme…

At a recent customer meeting, I was expecting to hear the standard commentary about the importance of high quality customer service, along with similar topics like timely customer communications, as being crucial elements in vendor selection. While these topics were discussed, an unexpected criterion found its way into the decision making process, namely Corporate Social Responsibility.

The media campaigns of Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio were instrumental in sounding the alarm and delivering to our living rooms the impact of commercialism on our fragile natural resources. In the B2C marketplace, this had a direct impact on how individual consumers exercise their purchasing power. This has translated into a blitz of ad campaigns from a variety of companies to emphasize their initiatives for reducing their carbon footprint.

It appears that this trend is also moving into the B2B marketplace. As evidence of this trend, during the same customer meeting mentioned earlier, one attendee expressed the fact that her company, as a standard part of their purchasing practice, now requires a prospective vendor to complete a form that describes the company’s stance on Corporate Social Responsibility.

To close the deal then, organizations need to have more than the best product, service or communication platform. The company that closes the deal will also have a strategy to deliver products in a way that demonstrates a goal toward protecting the environment and slowing climate change.

I am fortunate to be employed by an organization that recognizes the importance of this issue. For example, the Dow Jones Indexes contributes to the calculation of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, which tracks the financial performance of companies based on economic, environmental, and social criteria. It is just one source to help organizations monitor companies that are actively reducing their carbon footprint. Further, our parent company, News Corp, is passionate about corporate social responsibility and has articulated a clear goal of “0 carbon emission by 2010” . That sounds like a “Deal Maker” to me.

Until next time…

Nikki