Six Tips for a Pet-Safe Summer

The last days of May signal the unofficial start of summer for most folks, young and old, across the country. But with these carefree months of no homework and summer Fridays comes an increased risk for illness or injury for our furry pals.

From unpredictable weather to unusual routines, our animals are exposed to all sorts of hazards during June, July and August, and your pet is counting on you to keep him safe. Check out the ASPCA’s top six tips for keeping your animal secure all summer long.

1. Give your pet access to plenty of fresh water at all times. Even the healthiest pets can suffer from dehydration, heat stroke and sunburn if overexposed to the heat.
   


2. Avoid lathering your pet with any insect repellent or sunscreen not intended for the four-legged kind.



3. Keep your pet away from matches, citronella candles and lighter fluid, which if eaten can irritate the stomach, lungs and central nervous system.



4. Be cool near the pool. Don't leave pets unsupervised around a pool, lake or high waters—not all dogs are expert swimmers!



5. Never leave your dog, cat or any other animal friend alone in a car! The inside of a car can heat up very quickly—even with a window open.



6. Be prepared! From tornadoes to floods, we've seen the devastation severe weather has brought to pets and their families these past few weeks. Develop an evacuation plan well ahead of time in case you're forced from your home in an emergency.
   

Have a pet-safe summer!

Ciao,
Vinnie

Strap Yourself In...Airlines To Load On More Fees

In recent years, airlines have found new ways to boost their profits and at the same time annoy fliers. They are charging fees for checked bags, selecting choice seats, consuming snacks among other services that once were included in their ticket prices. Since 2008, their hands have been outstretched, snatching money out of our purses in the form of fees to the tune of $22 billion in 2010 alone ,which is about 5% of the global industry revenue.


Carriers are looking to tap into billions and billions of potential revenue and right now are only scratching the surface with baggage and seat fees. Some airlines are already charging fees for early boarding since overhead bin space has become a premium due to an increase in carry-on luggage. So be on the lookout for advanced seat assignment fees, fees to watch movies, fees for WiFi access, fees to purchase food in Coach, fees for transporting minors and pets, fees for having reservations agents book a ticket and perhaps even fees to use the lavatories. As carriers continue to feel the pinch of higher fuel prices, they will get more and more creative with the ways they seek to create new revenue sources.

Ciao,

Vinnie

The Great Video Game Debate

I recently read an article in the Phildelphia Inquirer that said there are mixed conclusions about video games and their effects on the people who play them for many years. You may be surprised that hundreds of studies on the link between violent video games and aggressive behavior have shown not that these games cause children to become violent themselves, but that aggressive people like playing aggressive video games.

A study from Yale University released in November 2010 suggests that most teens who play video games do not develop unhealthy behaviors, but a small minority of teens who play video games and already have addicitve traits may be more likely to smoke, use drugs, fight or become depressed.

The same study found that the boys who played video games (about 76% of male respondents) typically earned a higher grade average, were less likely to smoke and were more likely to say they'd never used alcohol or marijuana. Among girls, just 29% of those surveyed said they played video games, and those that did were more likely than the girls who didn't play video games to get into serious fights or carry weapons to school. These findings were interpreted to mean that for boys, playing video games is normal but for girls who play - they tend to be more aggressive.

Other research suggested that playing video games is socially isolating, but different studies showed that almost 60% of frequent gamers play with friends or siblings. In any case, if your child spends most of their time sitting on the couch, staring at a screen rather than running around outside, playing sports or engaging in an educational activity, you have rightful cause for concern.

Ciao,

Vinnie

TEXTING -vs- TELEPHONE CALLS

I read an article by Katherine Rosman in the Wall Street Journal last month that basically stated how we want to reach others, but do not want to be interrupted. According to the Nielsen Company, for anyone who doubts that the texting revolution is upon us, ponder over the fact that the average 13 - 17 year old sends and receives 3,339 texts per month. Can you believe that's roughly 100 per day? And hold on to your hats because adults are catching up...ages 45 - 54 sent and received 323 texts a month in the 2nd Quarter of 2010. That was up 75% from a year ago.

Behind the texting explosion there seems to be a fundamental shift in how we view our mobile devices. The fact that they are phones has become a moot point. Popular social media sites like Twitter are part of this catalyst because it allows postings of no more than 140 characters that create and reinforce the habit of communicating in microbursts. In addition, texting actually costs less than making phone calls since text messages - also known as SMS (Short Message Service) take up less bandwidth than phone calls.

Since purchasing my first iPhone over a year ago, I am now included in these statistics. I'm guilty of no longer picking up the phone to chat because I allow my fingers to do my talking. But please don't ask me about texting while driving because I will have to "Plead the 5th". LOL

Ciao,

Vinnie

Mark Your Calendars – Register for the Collaborate & Share Alerts Complimentary Session!

Widgets, those self-contained applications that can be embedded anywhere, are becoming an important way to visually consume news and obtain information. The appeal of widgets is its portability. They can be placed virtually anywhere the readers are.

Have you explored using Factiva Alert Widgets as a way of personally consuming the latest information from your Alert, or considered using it as a way of sharing your Alert with colleagues?

Register now to join us on 26 October, for a one-hour complimentary session on how the various tools in Factiva.com enable the sharing of Alerts and facilitate collaboration amongst teams.

Follow the steps below to find the session that best fits your schedule:
1. Select a Region
2. Choose Advanced (Inside-Out) Factiva.com
3. Select October
4. Find a session that fits your schedule and click Register.
5. Complete the short registration form.

The one-hour online sessions are conducted via an online interactive meeting facility, Microsoft® Live Meeting. If you have never used this web-conferencing tool before, we recommend that before attending a session you perform a one-time set up.

How to Handle Four Driving Emergencies

As most of us enter the busy Holiday Season and the driving hazards associated with it, I thought I’d share this information I recently came across on how to handle four driving emergencies:

1. TIRE BLOWOUT

Almost all blowouts happen when you’re traveling in a straight line at high speeds with an underinflated tire. So to help avoid a blowout, check your tire pressure frequently. If you experience a tire blowout, gently squeeze the gas pedal for just a couple of seconds to give you control over the vehicle and put on your hazards while directing the car in a straight line. After a couple seconds of gently squeezing the accelerator, smoothly release the gas pedal. By this time the tire is most likely to be void of air and pushing the accelerator further won’t allow the vehicle to go any faster. Coast the vehicle to a slow speed, turn on your turn signal, and gently turn toward the shoulder of the road – preferably the same side as your blowout to make changing the tire safer.

2. TREAD SEPARATION
While driving, if you hear a consistent thumping noise and/or a slapping sound, pull over and check your tires. This process can take days or often only seconds. So if you see damage prior to driving, put on the spare tire before proceeding. If your tire tread does comes off while you are driving, squeeze the gas pedal for just an instant and then gently release it. As with a blowout, drive straight on the road and put on your hazards. Allow your vehicle to coast, and then apply the brakes only slightly, just enough to help you reach a safe turning speed. Put on your turn signal and smoothly turn the car toward the shoulder of the road, ideally on the same side as the damaged tire.

3. TWO WHEELS GO OFF THE PAVEMENT
Let’s say you’re driving along a highway and you swerve to avoid hitting something in the road, and your two right or left tires drop off the blacktop. Gently remove pressure from the accelerator, but don’t touch the brakes unless you absolutely must (ie. Headed down a hill or you’ll hit an obstacle in front of you). Drive parallel with the road until you coast to about 35mph. Smoothly turn the wheel a very slight amount – no more than say 5 degrees – to get back on the road. If you must turn the wheel more than that to avoid an obstacle, then brake. Don’t try to reenter the road with more than 15 degrees of steering because if you have to turn the wheel let’s say 45 or 60 degrees to get back on the pavement, the front tires will most likely regain traction before the rears causing you to spin out. If this is the case, you could end up hitting what you were trying to avoid or even shoot across the road into other traffic. Anti-lock brakes (ABS) come in handy in this situation.

4. SKIDDING
Most of us have experienced skidding whether it has been in the rain, on ice or in snow and it’s no fun at all. If you have ABS and are starting to skid in rain, ice or snow, “stomp” on your brake, after which you will feel the pulses in the pedal and/or hear ABS kick in. You can then ease up slightly on the brake pedal until the pulsing occurs only once a second. However, if you’re skidding in a vehicle without ABS, push the brake hard until your wheels stop. Then immediately release the brake enough to allow the wheels to begin turning again. Repeat this sequence rapidly which is NOT the same thing as pumping the brakes.

Safe Travels,
Vinnie

Mark Your Calendars – Register for the Build a Newsletter Complimentary Session!

News and information is what drives the activities and transactions of the global economy. Getting access to the right information at the right time is what creates success and competitive advantage. Factiva.com Newsletter is a tool that can help you deliver:

*the right information
*to the right audience
*in the right format
*at the right time

This value-add feature to Factiva.com subscribers can take you beyond researching and finding the news and intelligence your organization needs. More importantly, it can help you design and deliver this information in a professionally packaged newsletter.

Register now to join us on 28 September, for a one-hour complimentary session on creating and deploying newsletters in Factiva.com. Follow the steps below to find the session that best fits your schedule:

1. Select a Region
2. Choose Advanced (Inside-Out) Factiva.com
3. Select September
4. Find a session that fits your schedule and click Register.
5. Complete the short registration form.

This one-hour online sessions is conducted via an online interactive meeting facility, Microsoft® Live Meeting. If you have never used this web-conferencing tool before, we recommend that before attending a session you perform a one-time set up.

Reaping the "Green" Benefits

Hello All,

I'm back to tell that you the Geothermal project is ALL DONE. Final installation was completed in the middle of May 2009 and I am happy to say that the costs weren't surprisingly what one might think. With all of the Energy incentives available, it was basically the same as a traditional HVAC system but proving to be more efficient. I can't believe new home builders aren't offering them as a viable option when a homeowner will benefit in the long run especially with the rising utility costs associated with heating and cooling a home.

We've been living with the Geothermal Heating/Cooling for just under 3 months and it is defininitely proving to be a plus. Take for instance during the summer of 2008, I would normally set my thermostat at 74 degrees F during the day and then down to 68 degrees F at night which was "somewhat comfortable" for me. Now I keep the house cooled during the day at 70 degrees F and when sleeping at night, it is dropped down to 65 degrees F which is VERY comfortable for me and my pets. To top it off, my electric bills have been lower than in 2008 with less electricity consumption, and I no longer complain to my other half about being warm all the time. The house is alot more quiet inside since the unit is placed in my basement and not outside the house exposed to the elements.

Another benefit of having had wells dug to supply the water to the Geothermal System is that we had them hooked up to our irrigation system. Our water consumption has dropped tremendously resulting in a decline in our monthly water bills which means our savings continue to escalate.

I couldn't be more happier with our Geothermal conversion and I am really looking forward to our next project - Solar panels for our roof which is coming sometime in September 2009.

Ciao,

Vinnie

GO GREEN - 5 Easy Energy-Saving Tips

I came across an article in a local periodical called "South Jersey House & Home" that gets stuffed in our mailboxes each month and found these 5 easy energy-saving tips that I thought I'd share with everyone. Tip #5 is my personal favorite because we are currently in the process of doing just that which will make our home one step closer to being more GREEN. The article was written by Joe Willix and here are his tips:

Tip #1. TURN IT OFF

Somewhere along the line, we decided it would be great if appliances or devices would be on at all times ready for us to use at our every whim. That uses a lot of electricity. Save a little money each month by turning off computers, cell phone chargers, TVs and battery chargers.

Tip #2. INVEST IN A KILL A WATT

Save hundreds by investing a few bucks in a Kill A Watt monitor. Plug anything into the Kill A Watt and it will measure how much electrical energy anything in your house is using. It's a great way to find out if your old refrigerator needs to be replaced.

Tip #3. DO NOTHING

The "Do Nothing Strategy" calculates how much homeowners will spend on electricity and gas if they keep doing the same thing for the next 25 years. Remember the number $160,804.92. That is how much you will spend if your home uses an average of $200 per month on electricity including the average 7 percent annual electric rate increases over the next 25 years. It's time to think about generating your own electricity with solar or wind power.

Tip #4. PRODUCE YOUR OWN ELECTRICITY AT HOME

Invest in your own solar energy or wind energy system. A 2-kilowatt solar energy system or a 2-kilowatt turbine will produce about 3,200 kilowatt-hours a year. You can install either of these sytems for less than $20,000, and they will produce energy for the next 25 to 40 years. Start small: You can easily expand the solar energy or wind energy system size later. both solar and wind energy are clean energies with zero emissions.

Tip #5. NEVER REPLACE YOUR AIR CONDITIONER

When your air conditioner dies, don't replace it. Invest in a geothermal cooling and heating system, which will reduce your electric usage and your cooling/heating electric bill by more than 50 percent. Air conditioning and heating typically represent 60 percent of your total monthly electric bill. Geothermal uses the moderate temperature of the earth, which is 55 degrees to 72 degrees 6 feet below the surface, to cool and heat your home. These machines are up to four times more efficient than an air conditioner. They are also so quiet that they are installed indoors away from the heat and cold. A geothermal cooling system will pay for itself in a few years.

I mentioned earlier that we are in the process of having a geothermal cooling and heating system installed in our home. Not only am I looking forward to being more GREEN, but saving a substantial amount of money each month on cooling and heating bills are welcomed. Just last week, we had 2 wells (source and return) dug in our backyard which will supply the underground air and water for the system. An added bonus is now that we have our own wells, we will be able to tap into this well water to supply our underground irrigation system taking a strain from our township water supply. Later this week, the actual geothermal cooling and heating unit is to be delivered to our home. PVC pipes still need to be installed in the ground that will connect to the actual system. We are able to use the existing duct work in our home, however some minor tweaking will be needed as well as insulation of the basement ceiling to make it as efficient as possible. We were told that it should take about a week to install the unit, make changes to the duct work and run pipes to our home so the installation date will happen probably in late April. This was our decision because we didn't want to go without heat during the winter months.

As you can see I'm very happy to be able to do my part for Mother Earth by adopting GREEN technology. In the future, solar panels are also on our "To Do" list but first we must get the geothermal project done. I'll let you know how things go once it's done but enjoy the photos of the well being dug which is our ground breaking into a GREENER way of thinking.

Ciao,

Vinnie

Rubber Bracelets: Pop Culture or Awareness?

I recently read a short article from the October 13th issue of Time magazine titled "A Brief History of Bracelets" and it fascinated me. The article mentioned many types of bracelets including stainless steel, black metal, bronze metal and rubber silicone. Since I wear a rubber silicone bracelet myself, I figured I provide you some history on bracelets.

Memorial bracelets have been around since the Vietnam War when a student group, Voices in Vital America (VIVA) began a campaign on behalf of missing American soldiers and prisoners of war using silver bands with soldier information imprinted on them. Senators Barack Obama and John McCain both wore stainless steel bracelets during the Sept 26th Presidential Debate.

Rubber bracelets originated as a punk rock anti-fashion statement when punks would put black rubber o-rings around their wrists and wear them as bracelets in the late 70's and early 80's because the rubber had practically no value compared to traditional jewelry materials. Madonna and Cindy Lauper helped with mainstream popularity in the 80's when they wore o-rings (often in many colors) in their videos and performances.

In the late 90's, the colorful o-rings (or jelly bracelets) reemerged among trendy youth and got some bad press when a rumor scared many parents decreeing that the different colors of the bracelets represented different sexual acts one was willing to perform. Later into the 90's, Rubber Band Bracelets became popular after people would take the thick rubber bands that you get wrapped around broccoli and asparagus at the grocery store and wear them as bracelets. Some companies began making and selling these types of rubber band bracelets printed with a variety of commercial messages although the trend didn't last very long.

The Rubber Band Bracelet trend did last long enough for NBA players to start sporting them and Nike with their keen eye on basketball fashion improved the trend by using the silicone rubber they previously used on sports watch bands and created the Nike Baller ID Band Bracelets. These bracelets came in specific team colors and had sports messages embossed or imprinted into the rubber which many NBA players wore on and off the court.

The first consciousness wristband was shaped by the Lance Armstrong Foundation in 2004 which was essentially a Baller ID Band in yellow and imprinted with "LiveStrong", the motto of Lance Armstrong's foundation for cancer research. The bracelets were sold for $1 each to raise money for cancer research.

Rubber silicone bracelets are even more popular today as many other charities, organizations, schools and accessories producers create them in a wide array of colors and with all kinds of messages, some just for fun. Below are some of the more popular representations:

• Red: Usually for HIV AIDS, Diabetes and Heart Disease awareness and prevention.


• Orange: Signify support for Multiple Sclerosis, American Cancer Society, Asperger's Syndrome and The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).


• Yellow: Lance Armstrong's support for general Cancer research and support for our troops.


• Green: Ecology support, Leukemia, Muscular Dystropy and Kidney Disease awareness in addition to Darfur awareness.


• Blue: Autism, Crohn's disease, Fighting Childhood Bullying in the UK, Violence and Child Abuse prevention and Cystic Fibrosis.


• Purple: Alheimer's, Lupus and Domestic Violence awareness.


• White: Anti-poverty and to support Christian themes.
  
• Black: Melanoma research and Anti-Racism messages in UK (Black and White together).


• Pink: Breast Cancer research.


• Other: Red, White and Blue for American Pride, Rainbow for Gay Pride, Camouflage for troop support and multicolored for major NBA and MLB teams.
  

Now that you see how popular these rubber silicone bracelets are, you can decide for yourself if you'd like to jump on the bandwagon whether for fun or to show support. My challenge to you is to guess which band I personally wear on an everyday basis.

Ciao,
Vinnie

Anne Caputo of Dow Jones Enterprise Media Group is 2009 President-Elect of SLA

Alexandria, Virginia, October 2, 2008- The Special Libraries Association (SLA) announced the results of its Board of Directors election today. Anne Caputo, CTS Executive Director of Learning & Information Professional Programs, was named President-Elect of the 12,000 member global association of researchers and information professionals. When her term begins in January 2009, Anne will participate in the development of strategy and outreach for this key professional association which represents researchers and other information professionals within enterprise settings around the world. Members of SLA form a core group of purchasers and influencers for key CTS products such as Dow Jones Factiva, Dow Jones Insight and taxonomy solutions.

Anne said, “I am honored to be elected to this position by my professional colleagues. This is a wonderful testament to the respect Dow Jones holds in this important market and to the opportunity for me to work with my global colleagues on issues important to research and information functions within organizations.”

All of her colleagues at Dow Jones congratulate Anne on this significant recognition of her dedication and support of SLA and the information professional community.

Teenagers - Vagrants or Misunderstood?

Believe it or not this coming weekend is the last weekend before Labor Day here in the US which means the teenagers will be heading back to school and not a moment too soon. Even though some of you are in different regions, you may experience the same thing with the summer months ending and school beginning.

You see, I live in a pretty nice neighborhood down here in South Jersey that is about 12 years old. Our subdivision connects to a couple other ones and it seems as if the young teenagers were quite bored this summer as they caused havoc to some of the neighbors. It's pretty much the teenage vandalism sort of things (knocking over mailboxes, stealing bikes and lawn furniture, etc.) but I guess when it's happening to you it's not minor. To top it off, our township has a 10:00pm curvew for minors under the age of 18 but it's not enforced that strongly. To fuel the fire, there's this area behind one of the other subdivisions that they call "The Pit" which consists of dirt mounds where people ride their 4-wheel quads and dirtbikes. But at night, it becomes a hangout for the teenagers and the cause of many phone calls to the police authorities. So much, that our community has now formed a neighborhood watch program to keep an eye out for anything that is peculiar. My partner and I do patrols after 10pm each night while we're walking our dogs so it's a perfect opportunity to be the eyes and ears for the police. In the 3 weeks since we started patrolling the neighborhoods, we personally have only had to telephone the police once when it was well past 10:00pm on a weeknight. This was because we came across a group of about 6 - 8 teenagers making lots of loud noise and tossing glass bottles across one of our streets in our neighborhood. So the police were called and that was the end of that.

By no means am I an advocate of vandalism, but I have to be honest and say that if I had had a place like "The Pit" to hang out in when I was a teenager, I would have taken advantage of it also. The difference is that I would have respected my elders as well as their property and would never have caused damage or made too much noise. So in a way I feel sorry for the teenagers who don't seem to have anything to do to keep them busy. Heck, with the extremely high property taxes that we pay to live here, I think our township should offer activities that could be both eductational and stimulating to keep the teenagers occupied and off of the streets at night. So...are the teenagers true vagrants or are they sadly misunderstood?

I'm sure everyone has their own opinion and perhaps it depends on the degree of vandalizm that they cause. In any case, if they ever start to vandalize MY property I'll lump them into the vagrant category and they'll become my public enemy #1.

Ciao,

VINNIE

A Day Trip Steeped in History and Danger!

A few weeks ago we took in a French exchange student named David, who incidentally is a wonderful temporary addition to the family. While he has gone on a few day trips with the other students and visited New York, he did not get to go to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and as a result we planned a day trip to remedy the situation. The fortune tellers at Weatherscan predicted a 60% chance of severe thunderstorms, but as they are far from accurate the vast majority of the time I thought we could chance it as this was our last opportunity to take a day-long excursion. It's a good thing I'm not a gambling man, but I'll come back to that in a bit...

We made a late start and navigated our way to Liberty State Park, where we would take the ferry to the appropriate ports of call. With a minimum of ceremony we arrived and purchased our tickets and wandered around killing time until the next ferry was due to dock, and it was only when we attempted to get in line to board that a ranger told us we needed to go through security before queuing up. We trooped along back to the building and got into a fairly short line that led to an airport-style security checkpoint. I noticed the various signage that warned about the various items on the restricted list and thought momentarily of the small Swiss Army knife I have on my key ring, but being the optimist I dismissed my insignificant single-bladed friend to the army of Europe's most noteworthy neutral country as a trinket barely worth notice.

Arriving at the metal detector and x-ray machine, I put my various items into the plastic bin and proceeded through the arch, setting off the alarm when my Swatch triggered the alert. Second time through was the charm and I emerged on the other side of the checkpoint unscathed. I should add that the older gentleman in the adjacent line had his oversized plaid shorts fall to his ankles after he relinquished his belt, which was pretty entertaining for the rest of us. I should also add that the first security officer commented on my sideburns and tattoos and asked if I was a fan of Danzig before giving me his unflattering opinion of MTV and the state of the music industry. His parting words to me advised me to look up the two-headed girl on YouTube... It was a surreal moment, but as he was polite and talkative I figured it never hurt to exchange pleasantries with a member of the security staff. You never know when it will come in handy...

So now I am waiting to collect my watch, wallet, belt, sunglasses, keys, gum, camera and phone from the bin when a second security officer holds up my overburdened key ring and points to the small knife. I instantly realized that he was not the friendly type I'd encountered moments earlier, and instead was a belligerent fellow with power issues. He informed me that my knife was deemed a weapon and I had two choices facing me: I could return my keys to the car and return sans knife, or I could leave the trinket with him. He then cautioned that if I left it with him, it would be gone forever as they don't hold these items for returning passengers. I looked at him nonplussed for a moment as my gears slowly turned and I evalutated my options.

At this point a previous security checkpoint survivor returned to ask about his cell phone, which he believed was not retrieved from one of the bins. The reaction of the security officer was so venomous and nasty I downgraded my opinion of him further. I opted to return to the car and leave the offending object safely in the center console, and as the reincarnated Nazi prison guard roughly pushed aside a couple of six-year-old children and ushered me through a door I tried to be philosophical about the whole thing and let him off with a single muttered obscenity directed at his back as the door closed. The next hour saw me return to the parking lot some two-hundred meters distant, drop off my key ring (I kept only the single key for the car), return to the security line where I stood for 20 minutes trying to attract the attention of an employee so that I did not have to wait in the queue (which had quintupled in size in my absence) and eventually make it past the baleful glare of the security officer who had been instrumental in my tribulations. We made it onto a departing ferry and were only an hour behind schedule.

In my mind Ellis Island was pretty much the same as it was 15 years ago, though they may have changed much and my memory compensated for my poor recall by making it seem that way. David opted for a French language audio tour, and Alek for an English one. We started in the middle of the main floor and slowly wound our way through the various rooms and exhibits. Ellis Island is a fairly interesting place, and they do a great job of providing you with oodles of historical background in the form of images, quotes and a variety of detritus collected over the years of operation. While Alek wanted to listen to each section completely and constantly held up his finger in a "Just a second" gesture, David wanted to move quickly from one room to the next. The result was one of us shadowing one charge while the other followed the second. We eventually made it to the end of the tour and rendezvoused back at the main area before heading out to catch the Liberty Island Ferry. Let me add that for the immigrants coming to the US back in the days of Ellis Island's busiest years conditions elsewhere must have been appalling if the experiences awaiting them here were seen as a momentary dislocation with some short term discomfort. But back to the story at hand.

Outside the main building we found the line for the Liberty Island Ferry and managed to secure a position maybe 30 meters from the dock where we watched the antics of several children who ignored their parents and ran about like free-range chickens. At this point I happened to look over to the south of the New York skyline and noticed that the sky was looking a bit dark and stormy. In truth, the sky was a turbulent mass of battleship-gray clouds slowly advancing in our direction. Occasional flickers of lightning licked the skies and the winds began to pick up dramatically. It seemed that the race was on and it would be a close shave whether or not our ferry would arrive in time to protect us from the coming storm. Each boat that passed bay was greeted with stares of longing as the crowded masses looked hopefully across the growing swells. It was like some strange apocalyptic film where the final transport was picking up the remains of the human race before the final storms arrived to ravage the Earth's surface. Nervous glances and furtive attempts to move forward in the line sparked some mild shoving matches and if it were not for the advancing wall of terror, there would probably have been an outbreak of violence somewhere in the mob. The ferry rounded the bend and we all surged forward until we eventually made our way onto the lower deck of the tossing vessel. We'd managed to beat the rain and the lashing wind by moments and had only suffered some wind-tangled hair and a few drops of precipitation on our clothes. We watched the skies grow darker and the lightning activity increase as we made our way to Liberty Island.







By the time we arrived at our destination, the waves were enormous, the rain was splashing down, the lightning was putting on an incredible display and the winds were reaching gale-force intensity. Throughout the final leg of the trip to see Lady Liberty we could see the mighty statue staring balefully forth through the stormy skies, and it was not a very heartwarming look... She looked menacing and annoyed as we drifted under her gaze, and I had an eerie thought that she would at that moment decide that she'd had enough and turn into an angry Talos-like figure of wrath and retribution. Instead she just looked grimly on as the lightning illuminated her pale verdigris complexion.

The docks, upon our arrival, were overburdened with people fleeing the storm. Masses of churning bodies huddled under the huge covered loading bay, their $10 green rain ponchos clinging like a second skin. After disembarking and walking past hundreds of fleeing refugees, their eyes shadowed with desperation and fear, we slipped and slid towards the towering behemoth only to find out that you needed to purchase your tickets a week in advance... We stood for a brief moment in the tented concession stand/gift shop as David made a purchase, and then it was off to the docks for the ferry ride back to Liberty State Park.

We made it to the ferry just as it was preparing to leave, but it was so crowded we were forced to wait for the next one. It was actually somewhat exhilarating to watch the waves crashing against the walls as we observed the passengers on the departing ferry watching us. Within a few minutes I understood why they looked at us in a manner that said "You're having fun now... wait till the ferry leaves and the protection of the boat no longer shields you from nature's wrath."

Sure enough, the ferry pulled away from the dock and the gale-force winds tore through the roofed boarding dock with the ferocity of a dozen Hollywood wind machines. The spray from the ocean, mingles with the rain pelting down from the heavens swept across the miserable crowd drenching anyone unfortunate to be standing in the front lines. Those cowering behind their human shields scrunched lower in an effort to maintain a stitch or two of dry clothes for the ferry ride back. The minutes ticked by as the winds and water continued to harass us while we looked into the distance for the arrival of our ferry. You tend to lose track of time when you are single mindedly focussed on watching for any signs of rescue. The boat rounded the bend and eventually we made it aboard, wet and windblown but otherwise in good shape.

Our return trip was fairly uneventful as we navigated our way out of the storm to arrive at Liberty State Park bedraggled and looking like we'd just escaped certain doom. Anything else I add at this point would be anticlimactic as the walk to the car consisted of a 200 meter jog punctuated by yelps of pain when a small rock from the gravel driveway managed to attempt to stow away in our Crocs or sandals. The day was an adventure to say the least. We were not only treated to some amazing history about a pivotal point in our nation's history, we also stared death in the face and laughed as the thunder crashed and the poison arrows fell from the sky and the pillars of heaven shook.

I hope you enjoyed my dramatic and lengthy tale...  I should look for some side work with the Travel Channel.

Thanks and Regards,

Thomas

How was YOUR time in Seattle?

I actually have about 400 images that I took, though most of them are from the city and surrounding environments as I used every millisecond of my time not in the convention center doing something fun or interesting...

  

 
  

 

Seattle was a blast and a great time was had by one and all.  Our Dow Jones Tech Zones went off with minimal typical technical issues (little browser tweaks and adjustments for the most part), and were well received.  From Taxonomy and Sharepoint to eLearning and Social Media in the Enterprise, we delivered our lectures to sold out crowds on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  By the way, if you did not get a chance to attend the very popular "Taxonomy and Sharepoint" Tech Zone during SLA, sign up for our Sept. 11th webinar today!

 

I'll set up a slideshow of all my SLA images soon, but in the meantime feel free to send us YOUR images from the Seattle conference and we'll put together a big image collection.  If you haven't read Vin's account of his excursion to Mount Ranier, please take the time to...  It is a hoot!

I'll end this post with a few images from our customer event at the Space Needle.  I already can't wait for 2009 and Washington DC!

  

Thanks and Regards,

Thomas

STRANDED (Not Sleepless) IN SEATTLE

Hello Everyone. I just returned from Seattle, WA while attending and exhibiting in the Dow Jones booth during the 2008 SLA Annual Conference. All I'll say is that the conference was great and I'll let one of my colleagues blog about that. I'm here to share a personal experience I had in Seattle that was unrelated to the actual conference.

After a busy week of exhibiting at the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle, I extended my trip so that I could spend a few extra days touring the city and visiting other cool places, mainly Mount Rainier National Park. Because we had such beautiful weather during my stay with clear skies, seeing Mount Rainier from my hotel room totally peaked my curiousity. So the only thing to do was to hop on an excursion made possible by Grayline of Seattle to see this enourmous mountain with breathtaking views. Mount Rainier is an active Cascade volcano encased in 35 square miles of snow and glacial ice. The 14,410’ mountain is surrounded by lush old growth forests, spectacular subalpine meadows and a National Historic Landmark District. Mount Rainer is the 17th highest mountain peak in the United States and the 31st highest mountain peak in all of North America.

Back to my personal experience. My companion and I boarded the tour bus at approximately 8:00am EST outside of the Sheraton Seattle along with 18 other tourists for a 10 hour excursion to see Mount Rainier. The driver was very outgoing and joked with me inside of the hotel informing me that I would be the one driving the bus and finding the mountain. Our driver fed our minds with lots of Seattle history during the 2+ hour ride to the base camp just outside of the Nisqually entrance. Once at the base camp, we grabbed lunch because we were told this would be our only opportunity to get food. While here we also had the opportunity to watch a powerpoint slideshow featuring photos of enthusiastic climbers who conquered the mighty mountain. After about an hour at this rest stop, all 20 of us boarded the bus (the driver counted us to make sure nobody was left behind) and embarked on our journey to the Nisqually entrance to Mount Rainier National Park.

The bus drove through the entrance and beauty reared her face immediatley as we were surrounded by some of the tallest trees I had ever seen that were older then America's freedom. A few miles after entering the park, our driver pulled over informing us that we would see one of the oldest and widest trees in the national park measuring in at 24 feet around. Everyone departed from bus to take photos of this gigantic tree that was only about 50 feet from the roadway. My companion and I along with another couple who coincidentally had also attended the 2008 SLA Annual Convention, walked maybe another 25 feet to another tree that appeared even larger and wider than the one pointed out to us by our driver. The four of us began taking photos of the newly discovered tree when all of a sudden we heard the bus engine start. We proceeded back down the path towards the road and heard the roar of the engine as the bus pulled away in our sights. STRANDED IN SEATTLE!

The look on our faces was that of shock because we couldn't believe the driver would pull off without us. Our first thoughts were that he would pull over immediately when he did his tourist count and would wait for us up the road. We proceeded to walk up the windy road while several autos, motorcycles, trucks and trailers passed us by. The sun was out and the weather a bit warm and after walking for about 30 minutes, panic struck when we realized the bus driver did not realize we were missing. How could he not know this if he did his tourist count as he previously did at the base camp?

We attempted to use our cell phones to call 911 but we had no cell phone reception at all. All four of us strandees (backpacks, water, snacks, cameras, iPods, etc. were left behind on the bus) proceeded to flag down every passing vehicle with no luck until finally one family from Ocean City, NJ pulled over. We explained our circumstance to them and they said they would drive up the mountain to the Paradise meadow which was the intended destination mentioned by the bus driver and let him know that we were missing. Our walking continued for about another 40 minutes when we were approached by a Forest Ranger who pulled aside us letting us know that they were contacted by a concerned tourist who told them 4 people were stranded by their bus driver. She informed us that the bus driver had been radioed and informed that we were missing and that he was on his way back down the mountain to get us.

After waiting on the side of the road for another 20 minutes, the bus approached with the 16 remaining passengers sitting in their air conditioned seats. The driver pulled over and opened the door for us to board. There was silence as I was the first to step onto the bus. I jokingly said SURPRISE and the bus driver immediately responded by saying, "I just said to the passengers that if you had mean looks on your faces, I was going to drive right by you." Did he just say what I thought he said? I responded to him, "Is that the way to treat your customers who you neglectfully stranded down the road?" He closed the door and did not comment.

At this point, the tour continued as the driver took us to several other pullover spots so we could take in the beauty of Mount Rainier. Each time the driver stopped, he let us know how much time we had at the particular location and did a headcount before the bus pulled off. When we reached the Paradise meadow and observation point, we again disembarked from the bus to take photos and enjoy the surroundings. We departed Paradise meadown by way of the backside of the mountain until we reached the bottom where we made one last stop at a souveneir shop. My companion and I purchased a couple of t-shirts and hats and the owner of the store asked us if we knew the people who were left on the side of the road. I told her "we" were indeed the people and that it was not a pleasant experience. She actually apologized and said it was the first time she had ever heard of an incident such as this happening and hoped we were ok. Physically we were fine but being stranded on the side of a volcanic glacier is no fun at all.

Not once did the bus driver apologize or offer empathy to us for being left behind. As a matter of fact, we heard him making light of the situation while joking with the other tourists. Proper protocol was not consistently followed at the area where we were abandoned and 4 out-of-towners who were looking for a relaxing bus tour, left Seattle with a tainted experience. Upon returning home to New Jersey, I contacted Grayline management who were very apologetic and assured me that they would look into the incident.

Ciao,

Vinnie

See you in Seattle

OMG! It's SLA at the end of the week. I booked my flight ages ago, but more than that...? Well, in truth, as a conference partner (vendor) we have been eating, sleeping, dreaming SLA Seattle for some months and on a personal level I've done the online conference planner thing, every event is entered into my blackberry calendar (I am a librarian after all) with a 15 minute default reminder (on mute, of course) to make sure I'm supposed to be where I need to be at the right time ...in theory at least.

But before I depart the UK I need to tell you about the SLA Europe Information Professional Award winner for 2008. He is Dennie Heye, Information Specialist, Shell International based in The Netherlands. You can see him receive his award and meet him at the International Reception on Monday 16th June from 6.00pm - 7.30pm at the Sheraton Hotel, Cirrus Ballroom. Alternatively you can come to his session on Using the Power of Visualisation Techniques and Technologies on Wednesday 18th June at 8.00am - 9.30am in the Convention Centre 601.

Those of you who can't make it to the conference should definitely read Dennie's blog http://olfh.blogspot.com/ It is required reading and therapy for every infopro....and their Friends!

So Seattle, is almost upon us. Of course all of us from Dow Jones will out in force so please come and say hello - Booth 401 - and yes, the hand writing experts are back by popular demand.

Now I must think about packing. At SLA Seattle 1998 the weather was just gorgeous. I'm packing my sunglasses....

See you there
Gill and the Dow Jones team

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