TECHMAN Breakfast Friday Sep. 7 at Fairfax Silver Diner 7 am to 9

Started by the Class of '05 but open to all. Click below for directions. Breakfast is the 1st Friday of the month. Come network and talk technology and business over pancakes!

Starts at 7 a.m. but show up anytime after. Map of 12250 Fair Lakes Pkwy Fairfax, VA by MapQuest

Business Technology : Don't Blame the Internet for Workplace Slackers

If you’re reading this post, you’re probably doing it – using the Internet for personal reasons while at work. A Reuters article that’s gotten picked up widely labels this activity “cyberslacking,” and argues that it’s costing companies in wasted time and lost productivity.
Business Technology : Don't Blame the Internet for Workplace Slackers

Social Networking Goes Professional - WSJ.com

When radiation oncologist Michael Tomblyn recently saw a 21-year-old patient whose eye was protruding from its socket, he turned to his fellow physicians for help. Dozens of doctors offered suggestions, including fungal infection, HIV-associated lymphoma or a cocaine-associated sinus problem, eventually steering him toward the correct answer: rhabdomyosarcoma, a fast-growing cancer most often observed in young children.

The diagnosis didn't take place in a doctor's lounge. It happened on Sermo.com, a social-networking site for licensed physicians, which Dr. Tomblyn and 25,000 doctors like him visit regularly to consult with colleagues specializing in areas from dermatology to psychiatry.
Social Networking Goes Professional - WSJ.com

Is Corporate Social Responsibility Responsible? - Forbes.com

What does 'corporate social responsibility' mean? Does it involve charitable contributions, recycling, and embracing alternative lifestyles?

This commentary is almost one year old, but I stumbled across it today and found it pretty interesting, especially the 'experiment' carried out in Masschusetts.

Sometimes it is hard for folks not running public companys to remember that a corporation's goal is to act on behalf of its owners (shareholders).

Is Corporate Social Responsibility Responsible? - Forbes.com

So...is it irresponsible for a CEO or board to deploy corporate assets for social causes?

What do you think?

NPR : Problems Surface at 'Net Phone Service Skype

Morning Edition, August 27, 2007 · When the Internet phone service Skype went down recently, millions of its customers lost contact with the world. Skype says 30 percent of its customers are business users. Scott Gilbertson of Wired News tells Renee Montagne that Skype may not be reliable enough to be a sole provider for big businesses.
NPR : Problems Surface at 'Net Phone Service Skype

CIOs Want Their Web 2.0 Applications

We asked CIOs who participated in this month's Emerging Technologies Survey to tell us which Web 2.0 applications they use personally. It turns out they're avid consumers of many of these technologies. Around half watch video online and use wikis, blogs and RSS; about a third use social networking sites like LinkedIn; and 12 percent even use virutal worlds like Second Life.
CIOs Want Their Web 2.0 Applications

NPR : Virtual Recruiting for Real-World Jobs

Morning Edition, August 22, 2007 · There's an unusual job fair taking place this week, but you can't get there by plane or car or drop off your resume in person. You have to travel in cyberspace — to a virtual world called Second Life, the online community where people — or their avatars — hang out for enjoyment, and increasingly, work and business.
NPR : Virtual Recruiting for Real-World Jobs

Facebook Gets Personal With Ad Targeting Plan - WSJ.com

Facebook Gets Personal With Ad Targeting Plan - WSJ.com: "Social-networking Web site Facebook Inc. is quietly working on a new advertising system that would let marketers target users with ads based on the massive amounts of information people reveal on the site about themselves."

NPR : Beyond Sex and Tourists in John Burdett's Bangkok

[Note: The Class of 2007 went to Bangkok] Morning Edition, August 21, 2007 · John Burdett's Bangkok is far more than the bizarre murders, corrupt cops and big-hearted bar girls of his novels, which include Bangkok 8 and Bangkok Haunts. NPR : Beyond Sex and Tourists in John Burdett's Bangkok

Is This Irresponsible Journalism?

Information Week, in the August 13th print edition (August 10th online), takes the Wall Street Journal to task for publishing an article that purportedly teaches employees how to get around the rules and policies of their company's IT departments.

Here's the link to the WSJ article:

Ten Things Your IT Department Won't Tell You - WSJ.com

Here's the link to what Information Week had to say about it:

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/08/the_wall_street.html

What do you think?

Top Tips on Public Speaking

Forbes magazine collected tips from 28 people that are well known and successful public speakers. At the bottom of the article are links to more do's and don'ts.

http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/01/sun-microsystems-nokia-ent-sales-cx_ll_0801byb07_publicspeaking.html

Kotter: 5 Things I've Learned About Change

A fresh look at change from Kotter...the 8 step man:

http://www.cio.com/article/129253/Five_Things_I_ve_Learned_About_Change

Day Spent On Internet Comes Full Circle | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

DAYTON, OH—A day of web surfing poetically ended just as it began Monday, when a random string of links brought area man Howard Nagel back to the same Facebook page on which he started nine hours earlier.
Day Spent On Internet Comes Full Circle | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Internaut | Commentary: The dual goals of cutting costs and completing projects can put IT managers in an impossible position

Federal data center managers are serving two masters now, and unless they are experts at juggling conflicting demands, they could find themselves in an impossible situation.Internaut | Commentary: The dual goals of cutting costs and completing projects can put IT managers in an impossible position

TelecomHUB 2007 National Conference on the Creative Economy

TelecomHUB wants you to know about the 2007 National Conference on the Creative Economy being organized by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, a TelecomHUB sponsor. HUB participants will receive a special reduced registration fee. Read on!

October 24-25, 2007
Hilton McLean Tysons Corner
Fairfax County, Virginia

Plan now to attend the 2007 National Conference on the Creative Economy, set for October 24-25, 2007, at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner. The conference will examine the role that a strong, creative workforce plays in the growth and success of businesses and communities in an information-based economy. TelecomHUB participants get a special rate of $325 – type in “Hub” when prompted at the end of the registration process.

The conference (www.creativeeconomies.org) will feature compelling keynote speakers: Professor Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class; Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, author of The World is Flat; and Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock, The Third Wave and Revolutionary Wealth.

And there's more: FORTUNE and FORTUNE SMALL BUSINESS columnist Anne Fisher will lead two panel discussions: one about FORTUNE’s "Best Companies to Work For" list and another about how emerging firms can compete with established companies for creative talent. Robert J. O'Neill, executive director of the International City/County Management Association, will moderate a panel discussion on how creative communities can help build a diversified local economy. Joe Watson, Reston-based CEO and author of "Without Excuses: Unleash the Power of Diversity to Build Your Business," will lead a discussion of using diversity to build a culture of corporate creativity.

These breakthrough thinkers and a host of intriguing panelists will address topics such as:

Attracting and retaining the creative class

Creating a culture of creativity in the workplace to improve the bottom line

Using diversity to promote creativity

Harnessing the power of an aging workforce

Boosting creativity in homeland security industries

Improving communities and the economy through creative companies

The conference is being organized by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, a TelecomHUB sponsor, and is being sponsored in part by the Fairfax County government and FORTUNE magazine.

Come and be part of this visionary event. Plan to attend the 2007 National Conference on the Creative Economy on October 24 and 25. Remember that TelecomHUB participants will receive a special rate of $325 – type in “Hub” when prompted at the end of the registration process. Visit www.creativeeconomies.org for more information and to register!

www.som.gmu.edu/techman
CREATIVEECONOMIES.ORG

GAO COST ASSESSMENT GUIDE-Best Practices for Estimating and Managing Program Costs

Because federal guidelines are limited on processes, procedures, and practices for ensuring credible cost estimates, the Cost Guide is intended to fill that gap. Its purpose is twofold—to address generally accepted best practices for ensuring credible program cost estimates (applicable across government and industry) and to provide a detailed link between cost estimating and EVM. Providing that link is especially critical, because it demonstrates how both elements are needed for setting realistic program baselines and managing risk.

IT Quarterly Forum Aug 14

The cost of litigation involving electronically stored information (so-called “E-discovery”) is burgeoning: according to one Forrester study issued in 2006, corporate America is expected to increase its spending on e-discovery from $1.4 billion dollars in 2006 to $ 4.8 billion in 2011. As part of this trend, party litigants – including Federal agencies -- increasingly are the likely targets of preservation orders, injunctions, subpoenas, and other demands for access to records and information stored electronically, and the greater IT community has a crucial role to play in preserving and providing access to these forms of electronic evidence. This lively session will be aimed at focusing on how CIOs and IT shops can best interact with lawyers and senior agency managers, based on lessons learned from some of the “worst case” disasters that have happened in recently reported cases, including involving email and backup tapes.

Date: Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Time: 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
IT Quarterly Forum Registration

EVM Modules Tailor-Made for Government Users — FedTech Magazine

Earned value management isn’t a new concept to the information technology chiefs at the Naval Air Systems Command. They’ve used it extensively to monitor contractor performance. But turning that lens inward is another matter.
EVM Modules Tailor-Made for Government Users — FedTech Magazine

Intel’s E-Mail Overload Solution - CIO.com - Business Technology Leadership

June 22, 2007 — CIO — Nathan Zeldes has been battling the negative effects of information overload for a decade, since his employer, Intel, first moved from mainframes to PCs. "It became incredibly easy for people to bombard each other with information," says Zeldes, a principal IT engineer. "Within a year, we were in a total disaster state."
Intel’s E-Mail Overload Solution - CIO.com - Business Technology Leadership

Projects@Work - Make Your Organization Work for You

The most efficient projects consist of multifunctional teams reporting to a project manager who manages the day-to-day work and team interaction with the rest of the organization. If only it were always so. Here’s some advice for those managing functional or matrix teams. Projects@Work - Make Your Organization Work for You

PRICE Systems Delivers Affordability Simulation with TruePlanning 2007 Modeling Companions

Updated Offering Empowers Engineers to Seamlessly Evaluate Cost in Real Time Within the Modeling and Simulation Environment

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. - August 07, 2007 -- PRICE Systems, L.L.C., the world leader in cost estimating and analysis solutions, today announced the launch of TruePlanning® 2007 Modeling Companions, a series of “add-ins” enabling integration and interoperability between engineering tools and the TruePlanning framework to effectively conduct affordability simulation. Starting with PTC® Pro/ENGINEER®, Phoenix Integration’s PHX ModelCenter 7.0®, and Engineous’ iSIGHT- FD®, PRICE Systems developed a complete line of fully integrated TruePlanning Modeling Companions. The result allows engineers to rapidly produce designs optimized for both performance and cost.

PRICE Systems Delivers Affordability Simulation with TruePlanning 2007 Modeling Companions

Class of '05 hosting Happy Hour

The Class of '05 is hosting a Happy Hour at Crystal City Sports Pub in Crystal City, VA, Saturday Aug. 18 at 5 PM. All welcome!

Newsvine - Bad Thai Cops to Endure Kitty Shame

Thai police officers who break rules will be forced to wear hot pink armbands featuring "Hello Kitty," the Japanese icon of cute, as a mark of shame, a senior officer said Monday.
Newsvine - Bad Thai Cops to Endure Kitty Shame

Editor's Desk-IT’s Achilles’ heel

Information technology managers won’t find many surprises in the 450- page report being delivered to members of Congress this week on the sagging state of federal procurement.
Editor's Desk

2007 China Seminar and Workshops

Navigating the China Markets with Experts

2007 China Seminar and Workshops
September 7, 2007, 8:30 am 4:00 pm

CIT Building
2214 Rock Hill Road
Herndon, VAÂ 20170

The Seminar Covers:Â Â Â
1) How to Establish your business and Navigate the China Markets with Experts
2) How to protect your intellectual property and business
3) Selecting the best markets and distribution channels in China
4) Exporting your goods/services to China
5)Sourcing and importing China goods
6)Finance and investment perspectives
7) How to make money in China!

Who Should Attend?

Business Owners, Presidents and Chief Technology Officers, Regional and/or International Marketing Managers/Directors; Senior Executive/Coordinator of International Marketing & Sales, Channel Relationship Managers, and anyone involved with Exports Sales, District Sales etc.
To register, visit: http://som.gmu.edu/files/China_Seminar_Registration_Form_D.doc>
Educators and students are welcome. Discount student passes are available.
For Discounted Student Tickets Visit:
http://som.gmu.edu/files/China_seminar_student_reg_form_D.doc

 For a complete program - including seminar agenda, speaker bios and sponsor descriptions visit: http://som.gmu.edu/files/China_seminar_program_D.pdf

For more information and to register visit:Â
www.som.gmu.edu/china

Does Offshore Outsourcing Still Make Sense?

This is an interesting article on continued viability of offshore outsourcing especially in call center environments. It is interesting to note the proposed Congressional rulemaking requiring location announcement by call center employees to consumers. On an anedotal basis, I've heard many complaints about Verizon's call center outsourcing. Earlier this month, I also had an interesting conversation with several CWA (Communication Workers Association) union members returning from their annual member meeting in Toronto regarding Verizon metrics and gaming that is occuring in regards to repairs. Per the union reps, the Virginia PUC is investigating Verizon repair metrics for accuracy and may end up imposing fines. It will be interesting to see if customer and union complaints causeVerizon to change their call center outsourcing decision in the next few years. -Cheryl London

The enterprise trend to contract out contact-center operations overseas as a means of saving the high costs related to supporting an all-American staff may start to reverse, due in part to customer backlash and pending government oversight.

According to a new feature now posted on TelecomWeb's "The Next Generation Contact Center Report" microsite, in a recent report, Michigan-based CFI Group in Ann Arbor, Mich., raised questions about the wisdom of contracting out contact-center operations to foreign countries, again warning about potential negative effects of offshoring on customer goodwill and retention.

The study found that customers who believed they were dealing with a contact center outside the United States rated their overall satisfaction 26 points lower than those who believed the center was U.S.-based. In addition, callers to foreign centers were almost twice as likely to sever business relations with the company. Specifically, service reps at offshore centers were rated much harder to understand and less adept at solving customer problems.

Despite the cost savings, "there is concern that customers will be turned off both by the loss of American jobs and by the lower level of service," CFI Group noted, thus bolstering the "patriotism" consideration.

And if customers fail to influence an enterprise's decision when it comes to offshore contact centers, at least one pending rulemaking in Congress, if signed into law, will.

House Resolution (H.R.) 1776 (slated to be called "The Call Center Consumer's Right to Know Act"), was introduced in March by Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) and 24 co-sponsors. If passed, H.R. 1776 would "require employees at a call center who either initiate or receive telephone calls to disclose the physical location of such employees." The bill was referred to the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection for initial debate and review.

The bill's proposed language, which could be changed during mark-up, says in part, "A United States corporation or its subsidiaries that utilizes a call center to initiate telephone calls to, or receive telephone calls from, individuals located in the United States, shall require each employee in the call center to disclose the physical location of such employee at the beginning of each telephone call so initiated or received."

To read the complete text of this story, go to "The Next Generation Contact Center Report" microsite at http://www.telecomweb.com/ccr. [note-registration is required but free].