I hosted a free, brief, live video & audio chat today using TokBox to help me brainstorm an idea. In 20-25 minutes, we covered a lot of ground and I left with several practical solutions.

Part of the value of Social Media Networks like Facebook, Twitter, TokBox, etc. is in the ability to have fast (sometimes instant) feedback. Before this, I’d have either called or emailed people and tried to coordinate schedules to see when I might hold a conference call (audio only). Ugh.

Today I took less than 15 minutes to make this brainstorm a reality. Coolness.

Yet making this work was more than the technology involved, it was that I, and others, have been intentional about leveraging Twitter as a very large network that’s manageable in small groups. While it’s ridiculously easy to get started with Twitter, it does require just a tad bit of effort to find people you want to follow and begin building your own group of followers.

SOLVING PROBLEMS AS A TEAM

Any time we move toward accomplishing something great, pursuing something worthwhile or doing something that has never been done before, we will create problems. If you don't want any problems, the solution is simple; don't ever want to have anything, be anything or do anything. Then you will only face the problems that come from doing nothing. Moses had few problems until he decided to deliver Israel from bondage. David had few problems until he stepped up to face Goliath. Nehemiah could have remained relatively problem free had he not stepped up to the task of rebuilding the wall. The Book of Acts describes how the early disciples not only took advantage of opportunities but solved complex problems on their way to fulfilling their mission. How would they replace Judas (1:20-26)? How should their physical needs be met (4:32-37)? What should they do with the Grecian widows (6:1-7)? What about the famine in Jerusalem (11:27-30), false doctrine (15:1-35) or John Mark (15:36-40)? Being a leader is to invite problems into your life and into the lives of others. Being a good leader involves solving those problems. Successful leaders have four thinking processes which set them apart from their less successful counterparts.

1. The ability to correctly assess their situation
2. The ability to clearly define the real problem
3. The ability to generate effective solutions
4. The ability to evaluate and forecast the outcomes of those solutions

Because these qualities are rarely found in an individual leader, and because we are committed to working in teams, we need a process whereby we can tap into the best thinking of every individual on the team. As a learning organization we must be able to solve problems and learn together from our successes and failures. Furthermore, we must have an agreed-upon team process by which we believe God will guide us in decision-making. We need a process that helps us solve complex problems

together. The acronym “PrEFACE” defines such a process. PrEFACE is a linear procedure that mirrors the intuitive process. The process works best when written by a facilitator on a white board or flip chart. Though this is a “group process,” each step does not necessarily require everyone's full participation. At times it is wiser to let individuals or subgroups define the problem, come up with facts and alternatives, etc. The entire team however must agree to the real problem and what a good decision will look like. PrEFACE is outlined as follows:

• Problem--define the problem and its cause
• Establish criteria for what a good decision or solution will look like
• Facts--what are the relevant facts?
• Alternatives--what are the alternative solutions?
• Choose the one(s) that best solve your problem
• Execute--Do it!

Problem

“A problem well defined is a problem half solved.” The problem should be stated as clearly and comprehensively as possible. Let several people take a stab at this. Remember that an insufficient, vague or faulty statement of the problem leads to a flawed solution. Ask yourself, “Is this the real problem or merely a symptom?” Define the underlying cause(s) of the problem. Learn to see beyond the obvious ... what everyone else sees. Heed Maslow's warning: “People who are good with hammers see every problem as a nail.” Don't yield to the temptation to default to last year's solutions. There are several things to consider as you frame your problem.

1. Decide who owns the problem and the solution. Not every problem we face needs to be solved with a team PrEFACE process but only those which affect the allocation of team resources or team “critical path” issues. Problem solving should be pushed to the level where the solutions can and will be implemented rather than solved at the top and passed on to the underlings. Sometimes the solution is simply, “Make sure this is addressed and solved at the local level.” The National and Regional teams should work on problems, which by their nature, cannot be solved or implemented by anyone else but them.

1. Distinguish between problems that have a solution and those that just are--problems which can be solved and those that can only be managed. Some problems (like diabetes for example) really can't be solved but can be effectively managed. Nehemiah's problems with his adversaries, Sanballet and Tobiah were not solved, but he did make progress in spite of these enemies by using appropriate strategies (Nehemiah 4:1-6, 4:7-9, 4:10-23, 6:1-14, 13:6- 9).
2. Distinguish between convergent and divergent problems. “Convergent problems have a solution: the more intelligently you study them, the more the answers converge. Divergent problems have no correct solution. The more they are studied by people with knowledge and intelligence the more they come up with answers which contradict one another. The difficulty lies not with the experts but in the nature of the problem itself. If you are in Boston and want to travel by car to Albany, there is a right answer to the question., 'What is the fastest route to Albany? But there is not a right answer to the question, “Why do you want to go to Albany?” How do you most effectively educate children? Different people of integrity and intellect will, inevitably, come to very different conclusions.” (Flight of the Buffalo, Warner Books, 1993). It is important to realize that divergent problems are not convergent problems that have not yet been solved. Rather, they are problems for which there is no single, best solution. We face insufficient and errant solutions when we approach complex, divergent problems as if they were convergent ones. Problems like, “How can we best evangelize this generation of students?” cannot be answered with single solutions. Just

as we can't treat divergent problems as if they were convergent ones, neither can we approach genuinely convergent problems (for which there is a singular right answer) as if they were divergent ones.

1. Understand “confounding variables” and the “Hawthorne effect.” The Hawthorne effect is derived from a famous study about the effects of illumination on worker productivity conducted in 1939 at the Western Electric Hawthorne plant in Cicero, Illinois. As expected, researchers found that when they increased illumination, productivity increased. Had the research stopped there, it would be easy to conclude that increased lighting will lead to higher productivity--a simple cause and effect relationship. But the researchers went further. When they reduced the lighting or restored it to its original level, productivity increased again. They concluded that the lighting was not the cause of the increased productivity. Rather the workers produced more because they were being observed and therefore performed in a superior manner. The Hawthorne effect is an example of a “confounding variable.” A confounding variable is a factor which may be associated with an outcome (e.g. lighting) but is in no way a cause of the outcome, or may be only one of several factors in the outcome. In other words as you look at a situation or problem, don't be fooled by the obvious. Breakthrough thinking and problem solving will not occur if you think and analyze like everyone else. Don't look for the symptomatic causes. Rather look for the systemic causes. Rarely is the first or most obvious answer the accurate one. For instance, you ask the leader of a large and successful ministry, “What do you think contributes to the success of your ministry?” He displays a puzzled look and answers, “Well, we pray a lot.” You return to your campus and begin your prayer ministry only to find that although, students are praying more, the ministry really hasn't grown. Although prayer was a major factor, it was not the single factor. The booming ministry had also shared their faith like crazy, were committed to student leadership and had a well-seasoned staff team.

Establish Criteria 
 

Determine what a good and wise decision will look like once it is made. Criteria tells how you will know when you have come up with an effective solution to your problem. These are the factors which will cause you to choose one answer or alternative over another. Criteria provides the answer to why this is a more effective solution. Our personal decision-making criteria are often implicit and seem self-evident to us. By having an explicit discussion on criteria will help avoid misunderstandings and confusion when it comes time to choose one answer or alternative over another. What factors will help us determine which answers are unacceptable, less than our best or better than the rest? In the arena of decision making, where passion, personality and position are often the trump cards, establishing effective criteria keeps us focused on solving the real problem

Although PrEFACE appears to be a linear process, after the problem has been defined and the team understands the acronym, team members can address any of the other issues (Facts, Alternatives, etc.). This allows people who think more randomly or globally to contribute to the process. Sometimes, after more facts come out you may want to restate or reframe your problem. It is also important that you don't get bogged down by this process. If you have access to the right facts this process can be worked through quite rapidly.

Facts

What are the present “givens” that won't go away with direct reference to your stated problem? What is the current reality with regard to your problem or question? Do you have enough current information to make a wise choice, or are you acting on rumors, hearsay and assumptions? Who has the best and

most current information that could be helpful in finding creative solutions? Often we simply don't have enough good information or feedback to solve the problem. Make certain that you include God and what he wants done in the problem solving process. Who analyzes and presents the facts is sometimes as important as the facts themselves. It was the ten spies in Numbers 14 who wrongly interpreted the facts through the eyes of fear rather than the eyes of faith.

Alternative Answers and Solutions 
 

Brainstorm and list all possible solutions. Divergent problems cannot usually be solved by a single alternative. Remember also that because of the spiritual nature of what we are involved in, some “problems” can never be solved by any process. They are so complex, only God can solve them. Peter's imprisonment in Acts 12 could not be solved through a PrEFACE type process. Some problems are solved only by “prayer and fasting.”

Look for “high leverage” solutions. High leverage solutions are those in which one solution solves two or more problems. In Nehemiah 4, two problems arose. First, the opposing armies were threatening, and secondly, the workers were dog-tired. Nehemiah made one decision that solved both problems. He had half the workers work while the others stood behind them, armed for battle. The workers got the rest they needed, and the entire wall was protected by warriors. Similarly by focusing on solving one problem, like putting a man on the moon or reaching the Freshman class, will force us to be adaptive, creative and will solve a myriad of other problems in the process.

Look for solutions that solve “systemic” problems not just “symptomatic” ones so that you only have to solve the problem one time. Today many of us serve as “deacons” because almost two thousand

years ago the disciples in Acts 6 did not just solve that day's problem, but they went further in creating a group called “deacons” who would be responsible

for solving all problems of this type. Look for the sheep that give wool, cows that give milk and geese that lay golden eggs.

Choose

Choose the best option (or options) from among the other candidates by comparing/weighing the options: i.e., determining their relative worth in light of your agreed upon criteria and facts. "The heart of the righteous weighs its answers" Proverbs 15:28. Which alternative(s) will take you the farthest in solving your problem and is consistent with your criteria? Timeliness in coming to closure is affected by those who bear the weight of carrying out the decision and the weight of the decision itself (tactical versus strategic path). If someone on the team needs more time to buy in, when possible, hold off making the decision for a pre-determined time. There are a variety of ways you can go about weighing options. Just make sure you decide.

• Pros and Cons--What are the pros and cons of each possible solution? Rate the remaining options and eliminate them as the team sees fit.
• Scenarios--What would it look like, for better or worse, if this alternative were lived out? What is the potential impact of this decision personally, emotionally, strategically, financially, etc.? What are the secondary ramifications of this solution? Will it create other problems? This is often drawn as a “decision tree.” Don't operate on a thin margin of success in implementing crucial decisions

Execute

Solutions are worthless without execution. “Execute” is the trigger pull of the PrEFACE process. This is not just an exercise in problem solving, it needs to lead to a decision that results in action. In the problem solving process it is not in the thinking, longing, hoping, or wishing which solves problems. Rather it is in the doing. Once you have chosen an alternative you and your team 

must execute your decision decisively, even if your best alternative is that you “wait.” Roger Von Oech says this:

When you're searching for new information, be an explorer.

When you're turning you resources into new ideas, be an artist.

When you're evaluating the merits of an idea, be a judge.

When you're carrying your idea into action, be a warrior.

Remember, once a promise of decisive action is made, people's "impatience clock" begins ticking. Provide for the vigorous execution of your choice. The credibility of a leader will decline proportionate to the lag time between deciding and acting. Bring an overwhelming array of resources to bear on one problem at a time. Executing involves answering the following questions:

• What exactly will happen?
• Who is the primary person or people who are responsible for the execution? Exactly who will do what?
• When will all of this happen?
• When and how will you evaluate? Learn from your successes and failures. The quicker you execute, the quicker you can get feedback and learn. Be a learner among learners in a learning organization. As long as you are learning and making adjustments you will make progress toward to goal.

Followthrough

Believing that God will use this process to create team solutions, once you have decided, it is critical that you present a united front as a team. This is called “consensus.” After the decision has been made, speak in terms of “We decided...” versus, “well, I was never for this idea in the first place.”

If you are in relationships with outward-focused people, you can be assured that your intimacy will lack depth. Your relationship may feel like the real thing but over time the truth usually will reveal itself. How does an individual then seek to surround themselves with people of good content? In addressing this question, here are things to consider in any relationship:

1. What is the person, overall objective in life?
   
2. Is the person more about acquiring material possessions or outward appearances than building lasting relationships?
   
3. Can you trust that individual?
   
4. Do you feel you are being used or taken advantage of?
   
5. Is the person more concerned about her image than doing the right things?
   
6. Do you consider yourself a superficial person? If so, do you want to change?
   
7. Do you honestly think that the people you associate with have good character? If not, why are you associated with them?

So does the relative decline of America as a technology powerhouse really amount to a threat to its prosperity? Nonsense, insists Amar Bhidé of Columbia Business School. In “The Venturesome Economy”, a provocative new book, he explains why he thinks this gloomy thesis misunderstands innovation in several fundamental ways.

First, he argues that the obsession with the number of doctorates and technical graduates is misplaced because the “high-level” inventions and ideas such boffins come up with travel easily across national borders. Even if China spends a fortune to train more scientists, it cannot prevent America from capitalising on their inventions with better business models.

That points to his next insight, that the commercialisation, diffusion and use of inventions is of more value to companies and societies than the initial bright spark. America’s sophisticated marketing, distribution, sales and customer-service systems have long given it a decisive advantage over rivals, such as Japan in the 1980s, that began to catch up with its technological prowess. For America to retain this sort of edge, then, what the country needs is better MBAs, not more PhDs.

America also has another advantage: the extraordinary willingness of its consumers to try new things. Mr Bhidé insists that such “venturesome consumption” is a vital counterpart to the country’s entrepreneurial business culture.

Is he right? The lack of long-term data means this has become “a quasi-theological dispute”, says Robert Litan of the Kauffman Foundation, a charity that provided some funding for Mr Bhidé’s work. But the contrarian should not be dismissed out of hand. For a start, he is right to argue against making a fetish of invention. Edison did not invent the light bulb and Ford did not think up the motor car, but both came up with the business-model innovations required to profit from those marvels.

And as GE’s Mr Immelt likes to say, his firm is not great at invention, but it is outstanding at “turning $50m businesses into billion-dollar businesses”. Adam Segal of the Council on Foreign Relations, a think-tank, points out that the sensors that America’s soldiers use are no longer secret technology, but they use them in sophisticated ways that rivals cannot copy easily.

There is another reason to take the current “techno-nationalism”, as Mr Bhidé calls it, with a grain of salt. Even if China and India really are surging ahead in the number of technical graduates (and research by Vivek Wadhwa of Harvard University casts doubt on the quality of many of those degrees), innovation is not a zero-sum game. On the contrary, there is growing evidence that the rise of the giant emerging economies may even help those companies from the rich world that take a global approach to innovation.

For several years Booz & Company, a management consultancy, has compiled a ranking, called the Global Innovation 1000, of the world’s leading firms ranked by investment in research and development. It has shown in the past that spending more on research has no correlation with better financial performance. But this year’s study, recently released, found that multinational firms that took a global approach to research outperformed those that concentrated their research spending in their home market.

Why? “Being global and open is now necessary for innovation,” says Henry Chesbrough of the University of California, Berkeley. Cost is only one reason (and not usually the main one, Booz argues) to have a global research presence. Another advantage is the ability to tap into pools of talent abroad. But the most important advantage is the ability to listen to, and learn from, customers in new markets.

As well as helping designers come up with products relevant to those markets, it also allows innovation to flow the other way. Indians often share mobile phones, notes Stephen Johnston of Nokia, so the handset-maker developed software to allow multiple phone-books on a single handset; this idea is now being brought to Western markets so that users can, say, separate their home and work contacts. Similarly, GE has developed low-cost medical scanners for Asian markets that are now being sold in other poor countries, too.

Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School is not fully persuaded by the arguments put forth by Mr Bhidé (who happens to be a former classmate). He thinks Chinese and Indian firms may in time “disrupt” established American companies just as personal computers challenged mainframes, and he worries about America’s education system. But he accepts Mr Bhidé’s notion that it is more useful to teach technical skills to managers and factory workers than merely to crank out more theoretical scientists.

Most importantly, Mr Christensen agrees with Mr Bhidé that there is no case for protectionism. Some techno-nationalists argue, for instance, that “American innovation” should receive preferential tax treatment or subsidies. Such proposals make little sense given the increasingly global and open nature of innovation. As Mr Chesbrough wryly puts it: “What’s good for Intel may not necessarily be good for America.”

Video chat site TokBox gets $10 million

Video phone calls just haven't caught on like all those cinematic depictions of the future said they would--kind of like flying cars. But a bunch of investors led by Bain Capital Ventures still believe. They've pumped a $10 million Series B round into TokBox, a video chat and calling site based in San Francisco. Existing investor Sequoia Capital also participated.

TokBox launched less than a year ago, but it has been working hard, appointing Nick Triantos as CEO, releasing a light desktop application based on Adobe AIR and building code to integrate its video chat into Facebook Chat.

"TokBox has an impressive, and very loyal and energetic user base," Scott Friend, a partner at Bain Capital Ventures who will be joining the start-up's board of directors, said in a statement. "The company is executing well, and its service offers consumers a variety of great features that strongly differentiate TokBox from competitors. We are excited to be investing with our partners at Seqouia in a company we believe has the potential to be the next 'big thing' in Web communication."

TokBox going after Seesmic with public video posting

How A Taco Changed Our Thinking About Dot-Com Job Losses

by Todd Kliman

How bad's the economy?

Dot-com darling Yahoo! yesterday laid off 1,500 employees (bringing to nearly 100,000 the number of laid-off tech workers this year).

Almost lost amid the exiting of the techies and the soundings of doom in Silicon Valley was this odd little tidbit: A small outfit called Tokbox parked a taco truck outside the Yahoo! compound, handing out tortas, burritos, two-ply tacos — and job applications. The video-chat start-up was looking to fill — count 'em — five positions.

But what does it mean? After the jump...

A young, hungry start-up doling out Tex-Mex like it's a county fair and punking the once-young-and-hungry titan on its own turf (the effrontery! the symmetry!) is not just a stunt. It's naked opportunism masquerading as a stunt.

In other words, business as usual in Silicon Valley, where goofiness has always masked aggression.

The rise of the dot-coms gave rise to casual Friday, and to the notion of the workplace as a campus, a stress-free idyll where employees play as hard as they work and where "outside-the-box" is an over-repeated mantra (true creatives ask: what box?).

Gullibles in the media (particularly in the new media) proclaimed it to be a model for a new age, a new America, and have tried to sell us on the idea that the new breed of business is not concerned with the old-breed values — as if the nerdy follow-your-bliss atmosphere of these companies could not possibly produce a rapacious capitalism. And the names! Hard to think that a company named Yahoo! or Google could be up to anything too greedy or dirty. (Exclamation points are joyous!)

A taco truck, though. That simultaneously raises and lowers the bar for future takeovers/poachings. Good one, Tokbox.

Todd Kliman is a James Beard Award-winning restaurant critic and the food and wine editor of Washingtonian magazine. The Wild Vine, his book about the Rosetta stone of American wine, is due in 2009.

Uncluttering your schedule to keep clear of unnecessary stress

Being human can be difficult some days. I most often notice the difficulties when I’m stressed, full of anxiety, things are chaotic, and/or under pressure. Little problems that are usually dealt with easily turn into big issues because my abilities to see the whole picture or keep my cool are gone.

Last week, I completely unhinged in front of one of my colleagues. I was quietly working at my desk one minute, and the next minute I threw a tantrum because a project we were working on took a turn I didn’t expect. Instead of reacting like a normal person, I chose the path of awful person. I used my “outside voice” for at least a full minute before I realized I was being a complete idiot. Thankfully, my colleague burst into laughter (instead of yelling back or quitting) and asked if my outburst helped me feel better.

It took me two hours to calm down and figure out what had happened. Many elements in my life were to blame:

Stress + Anxiety + Disappointment + Poor Planning = Awful Erin.

As full disclosure, one of these elements was completely out of my hands. I had no way to control the event that happened that triggered my disappointment. No matter what the day or how prepared I possibly could have been, I still would have been disappointed.

The other elements were all my fault, however. My poor planning resulted in stresses and anxieties that were wholly unnecessary, and which made me blow the incident with my co-worker completely out of proportion. If I had planned appropriately, I would have been able to move with the ebbs and flows of the day and not let the stress and anxiety overwhelm me. More precisely, I wouldn’t have been experiencing stress and anxiety — at least not at the level I was.

Later in the afternoon, I made a heartfelt apology to my colleague, we had a good laugh, and then I headed home to re-evaluate my schedule. This time, I needed to be realistic about my abilities.

I revisited my initial estimations and doubled them. What I thought would take one hour, I doubled to two. What I thought would take a day, I scheduled to two days. I made phone calls and adjusted others’ expectations of my timeline accordingly.

With all things in life, the more stress and anxiety you feel, the less able you are to think and respond to the best of your abilities. Proper planning — being honest with yourself about how long it will take to complete action items, setting a schedule, and having the diligence to keep to that schedule — will keep you from feeling overwhelmed and in control of the things you can control.

Since my tantrum last week and retooling of my schedule, I have noticed a significant decrease in my stress and anxiety levels. I am not super human, and my new schedule is realistic and maintainable. Unfortunately, it took making a fool out of myself to realize I needed a change. How do you organize your time to keep stress and anxiety at bay, and how do you avoid potential stress meltdowns?

Reacting is based on instinct and intuition.

Responding requires thoughtfulness.

Initiating comes from imagination.

An atmosphere where people initiate can only come from a place where dreaming is encouraged. Leaders imagine a world that they would like to be a part of, a world worth fighting for. With this vision and all the emotion that gets stirred up in the heart, the leader begins to initiate. They see the issue or challenge that not everyone else sees and lead people to do something about it that was not done before.

Passion sparks initiative, a tremendous focus, belief, desire, and drive. - Seth Godin

America’s Healthiest Restaurants: Shining Examples of Fast-Food Fare

America’s Healthiest Restaurants: Our List of the Best Casual Dining Spots

Five Fast-Food Restaurants to Feel Good About

The High Price of Cheap Eats

Webex vs. Yugma vs. GoToMeeting - Who wins?

Yugma, the new alternative to WebEx

Yugma is the new online conferencing service that kills Webex in terms of quality and pricing (Comment me if you feel different). Someone mentioned the Yugma service over at InsideCRM online magazine and I decided to check it out. These guys are good from what I see. We know that WebEx’s lowest plan starts $39 a month for only 15 users. GoToMeeting starts at $49 a month and Turbo meeting is a piece of horse manure (personal experience), so don’t use it. Check the chart from Yugam out below. More features, and conference attendees for less. They impress me (not easy to do) and here are their feature sets, tell me what you think.

Services	Pro-20	Pro-100	Pro-500
Attendees you can invite	20	100	500
Pricing Monthly	19.99	69.95	89.95
Desktop Sharing	Yes	Yes	Yes
Free Teleconferencing	Yes	Yes	Yes
Public and Private Chat	Yes	Yes	Yes
Customizable Widget	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows, Mac and Linux	Yes	Yes	Yes
MS Outlook and Skype compatiblity	Yes	Yes	Yes
Share Mouse & Keyboard controls with other attendess	Yes	Yes	Yes
Change Presenter	Yes	Yes	Yes
Annotations & Whiteboarding Tools	Yes	Yes	Yes
Schedule Sessions	Yes	Yes	Yes
Web Session Recording, Playback and Hosted Webcast	Yes	Yes	Yes
Shared File Space (100MB)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Webinar feature (Professional 100 & 500 only)	No	Yes	Yes
Priority Customer Support	Email, Phone and WebEmail

Collaboration vs. Sharing

Since Yugma excels in its screen sharing capacity, the real power of Yugma lies in its real time collaboration capabilities.

With Yugma, multiple people can collaborate in any program, sharing mouse and keyboard capability in real time. The whiteboard feature of Yugma allows for virtual brainstorming sessions, either in or outside of meetings. The annotation tool allows for one or multiple people to edit or provide comments on work in progress.

While many of “the other guys” focus on old school meetings like structured collaboration, Yugma focuses on two types of collaboration: spontaneous (this happens often) and structured collaboration.

Yugma Professional Features

Yugma Professional offers a extreme set of features to meet the needs of any business. Here are the brief highlights of just some of the features you get with Yugma Professional:

Yugma Viewer

Allow meeting participants to quickly connect and view your meetings without having to download or register for Yugma.

Mouse & Keyboard Sharing

Collaborate in any program in real time with one or multiple people, whether they are in the same office or across the globe.

Annotation and Whiteboard tools

With these easy-to-use integrated tools you can brainstorm in real time, edit documents, or just add some flair to your presentations

Session Scheduling

Schedule your meetings and send invites in advance. Keep track of your scheduled sessions on Yugma’s integrated calendar.

Session Recording, Playback, an Hosted Webcast

Record important meetings or demos for later viewing. No codecs or file compatibility issues, your recorded sessions will be hosted by Yugma and playback in any browser.

Shared File Space

Avoid important files getting trapped in virus or spam filters by posting files for clients or colleagues in Yugma’s shared file space.

Yugma Enterprise Features

In addition to all the powerful features you get with Yugma Professional, Yugma Enterprise users also get some key features to help manage Yugma across a larger organization, such as group account administration, consolidated billing, and a branded meeting portal page.

For more information about our Enterprise Service, check out their website at yugma.com.

Yugma’s Satisfaction Guarantee

Yugma is commited to providing our Professional and Enterprise customers the best service and support. We promise 99.9% or better service availability. If you are not satisfied within the first 30 days of your one year contract, we’ll refund your remaining balance.

We also provide live technical support during business hours via phone, email, and live chat. Email and voice mail inquiries made during non-business hours will receive a response as soon as possible the next business day.

Yugma for Business Pricing

Yugma Professional starts at just $19.95 a month for 20 attendees. We have service plans to fit any size business, up to 500 concurrent users.

______________________

That’s a wrap, these are new huys I will be using for my online conference from here on out.  I doubt I will go back to Webex or GoToMeeting ever again.  It seems the new guys like to push the envelope while the old guys rake in the menoy and don’t really bring anything innovative anymore.  Do you agree?

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the 'Peanuts'
  (Don't actually answer the questions, just read...)

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
4. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
5.  Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.
 
 


How did you do?

The point is none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.
These are no second-rate achievers.
They are the best in their fields.
But the applause dies  ...
Awards tarnish.
Achievements are forgotten.
Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.
 

 
Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special!!
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
 

 
Easier?
 
The lesson:
The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials...
the most money...or the most awards.
They simply are the ones who care the most.
 

                      ''Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!'

Cruising in clunkers for a cause

Members of the Irvine-based Junky Car Club drive older cars and donate what would be their new car payments to charity.

COSTA MESA – Most people trade in their clunkers for an upgrade. Mike Foster wants people to trade in their upgrades for clunkers.

Only a few years ago, Foster, a Corona resident, was driving around in a brand new 2004 Infinity G35 Sport Coupe when he realized that "there has to be more to life than driving my pimp daddy car."

He sold it and paid cash to his parents for a 1993 Toyota Camry that he lovingly calls "Green Gremlin." The windshield is cracked, the car smells funny and the air conditioning is messed up but Foster couldn't be happier.

He began taking those car payments – about $600 a month – and donated them to charity. He founded the Junky Car Club through his nonprofit organization Ethur in 2006 and runs the club out of donated office space in Irvine.

The club now touts 3,000 members that live as far as Russia and the Philippines. Those members account for "tens of thousands" of dollars donated to Compassion International, a Christian nonprofit that works to improve the lives of impoverished children throughout the world.

"It would be nice drive up with a nicer car, but for me the Camry is kind of a mission," Foster said. "I've turned my vehicle, my form of transportation, into a mission. I know when I'm driving that car I'm helping others."

In 2009, the Junky Car Club plans to focus on mobile homelessness and support people who live in their cars. Foster said that because it is illegal to live in a car, there are no solid statistics, but he believes that, based on research, approximately 5,000 people live in cars in Southern California.

One of those people is Kathleen McWilliams of Harbor City, who was on hand for the Festival of Clunkers car show at The Camp in Costa Mesa on Saturday. She has lived in a 1982 Dodge Ram Custom with her eight-month-old son Ezekiel and her dog Zodi since February.

McWilliams works part time at her church's bookstore and does charity work when she can and said that living in the van has taken its toll.

"Mentally and emotionally I'm just overwhelmed because I want so much more for him," she said. "It's cold at night. Physically it's rough because we don't have a shower or a restroom inside of there so you can imagine the obstacles. But as far as love, we've got a lot of love."

She said that she's lucky, because some people don't even have vans to live in. She plans on using money from her part-time job and welfare for project housing, for which she is currently on a waiting list.

Chad Houck, who lives in a recreational vehicle with his wife and two children, travels the country inspiring people to help others. He found out about the car club at a leadership conference in Atlanta and said he can relate to the cause because he was homeless in college.

Houck lived in his truck for three months after he was evicted because his roommates spent his rent money and left in the middle of the night. He kept a gun in his truck because he was scared for his own safety, but said he is now in a position to use his experiences to try and defeat mobile homelessness.

"Simply saying 'No, not in my backyard' or 'You're not going to park in my neighborhood' and shutting off opportunities and closing doors doesn't solve the problem," he said. "it just pushes it off to where you can't see it."

Contact the writer: 714-445-6689 or npirani@ocregister.com

In no particular order, some church pastors, leaders, writers that use Twitter and are making a difference our world!  I enjoy following these guys and watching their blogs.  Enjoy.

• Dave Ferguson, Spiritual Entrepreneur and Lead Pastor at Community Christian Church & visionary for the NewThing Network
• Mark Batterson, Lead Pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC. Author of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day.
• Tim Stevens, Executive pastor at Granger Community Church
• Perry Noble, Senior Pastor of NewSpring Church, located in Anderson, SC
• Tony Morgan, Tony Morgan is a pastor and the Chief Strategic Officer at NewSpring Church
• Doug Pagitt, founder of Solomon’s Porch, a holistic missional Christian community in Minneapolis, Minnesota (www.SolomonsPorch.com) and one of the founders of Emergent Village, a social network of Christians around the world (www.EmergentVillage.com)
• Mark Driscoll is one of the founding pastors of Mars Hill. He is the preaching pastor for all www.marshillchurch.org locations.
• Ed Stetzer, President of LifeWay Research, Missiologist, Author.
• Len Sweet, Professor of Evangelism at Drew University, Madison, NJ.
• DJ Chuang, Director of Leadership Community and Digital Initiatives at Leadership Network and Executive Director at L2 Foundation

In no particular order, church pastors, leaders, writters that tweet and are making a difference our world!

Dave Ferguson, Leader of New Thing Network
Mark Batterson, Lead Pastor of National Community Church
Tim Stevens, Executive pastor at Granger Community Church
Perry Noble, pastor at NewSpring
Tony Morgan, at Perry Noble’s church
Doug Pagitt, emerging church writer and pastor of Solomon’s Porch in Minn.
Mark Driscoll, Reformed writer and pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle
Ed Stetzer, writer , church leader
Len Sweet, professor and writer
DJ Chuang, Director of Leadership Community and Digital Initiatives at Leadership Network and Executive Director at L2 Foundation.

Ever since Google and Yahoo! set the gold standard for how search engines use other people’s content, there have been other sites and services that have sought to push the envelope.

But following the controversy over the RSS aggregator Shyftr, it is worthwhile to take a look at three other sites that are making widespread use of blog content, how they are doing so and what the potential implications are.

After all, Shyftr is not the only site republishing your feed in full or large part, it is only one of several. Some of which may raise even more red flags than the original Shyftr itself did.

These days, almost anyone can make the next great Web service or killer app. All one needs it the knowledge, some time and a server.

However, in doing so, it is important to have an understanding of the legal, ethical and industry guidelines in what you are doing. In many of these cases, one gets the impression that they did not run what they were doing by an attorney or allow someone else to offer input. In the case of Blogdimension, they seemed almost hostile to the input that they did get.

It is easy when you are thinking about what would be neat or a great feature to forget about the people whose content you are using. However, any new application or search engine needs to think about content creators as well as users.

Unfortunately, there is much more to creating an application than just writing and testing code. There are many other considerations to weigh and many developers don’t seem ready to deal with them all.

Hopefully, developers will get more savvy about these issues and avoid these kinds of simple mistakes in the future. Otherwise, we can expect many more flame ups like the one over Shyftr.

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Don’t let Yul Kwon’s impeccable abs fool you. After winning Survivor: Cook Islands, Kwon often stuffed himself with bulk quantities of junk food from Costco. At one point, he had gained almost 40 pounds in one month.

Then a friend introduced him to Red Mango in Los Angeles, and his addiction began. As a frequent visitor, Kwon started losing weight and decided he wanted his own Red Mango franchise.

“It’s sort of embarrassing to admit, but I really just wanted to own a Red Mango store so that I could have a guaranteed pipeline of yogurt,” Kwon said.

Located on leafy University Avenue in Palo Alto, business is steady; during the day, office workers, local merchants and students make up the bulk of business. In the evening, the frozen yogurt destination—with its minimalist dove-white walls, wood floors and trendy music—has become an alternative for young people opting out of the typical bar scene.

Kwon credits the shop’s popularity to the yogurt, which promotes a healthy-eating lifestyle. Unlike other frozen-yogurt shops, Red Mango serves real authentic yogurt shipped from a local dairy farm and does not use powder. This ensures a high level of probiotics, which are good bacteria that promote digestive health.

Red Mango’s frozen yogurt is smooth with no frozen ice pellets found at sub-par operations. The full-bodied yogurt also contains a perfect amount of tartness. Toppings amplify the flavor further: Dark chocolate adds a decadent crunch, while mochi contributes to a playful chewy texture.

A first-time restaurant operator along with partners Richard Choo and Mark Young, Kwon describes his experience as training in boot camp. After graduating from Stanford and receiving a J.D. from Yale Law School, Kwon worked in corporate America, including Google. But he said he would not trade running a small business for any office job: Although the retail business involves a huge amount of stress and work, he sees that job security even in a Fortune 500 company may not be firm. And with Red Mango, he finds it satisfying to create something tangible as well as have control over his own destiny.

But Kwon still has to answer to his harshest critics—his parents.

“I’ve more or less turned out to be a categorical disappointment to them,” he said.

His father could not comprehend his throwing away his career to embarrass himself and family on reality television, and he has given up asking when his son will receive a Ph.D. Still, Kwon thinks that his father considers anything is more respectable than running around half-naked on a reality show.

Since the frozen-yogurt trend originated with Red Mango in South Korea, Kwon said there has been a greater awareness among Asian Americans. He believes that many Asian Americans appear to be lactose intolerant but can still eat frozen yogurt.

Kwon’s innovative marketing strategy is centered around viral marketing to generate buzz and brand. This includes building profiles and connecting with potential customers using Internet platforms such as Facebook and Myspace. Moreover, Kwon has been active in supporting charitable events, notably running a bone-marrow drive at the store with the Asian American Donor Program.

An inside look at Paper Source’s workshops

October 31st, 2008, 12:00 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Candice Shih, Staff Writer

Coaching news from the “other” AMA

AMA Study Finds More Use of High-Level Coaching

by Agatha Gilmore

Thu Jul 10, 2008

Today, many organizations aim to grow by accelerating talent development as much as possible. According to a new study by the American Management Association (AMA), coaching has become one increasingly popular way to do it.

The study, “Coaching: A Global Study of Successful Practices,” surveyed more than 1,000 business leaders around the world and found use of coaching as a means of increasing individual productivity was up. Nearly 60 percent of North American companies use coaching for high potentials frequently or a great deal, and about 42 percent use coaching of executives to the same extent. These percentages were higher in the international sample.

Contrarily, only 37 percent of North American respondents and less than 30 percent of international respondents said they used coaching to help problem employees.

“We’re all expecting more out of individual performers,” said Edward Reilly, president and CEO of AMA. “I think coaching has been found to be another effective tool in terms of talent development, and it makes sense to invest in that type of development. It’s also pretty clear that the reduction [in coaching for low performers] comes from trend to learner, more competitive companies with probably less tolerance for long-term carrying of people who are not performing. Extensive amounts of intervention are probably not as common as they might have been a decade or two ago.”

The study’s findings also tie into issues surrounding Generation Y employees’ entry into the workforce. These young workers are known for their social networking and their need for mentoring and guidance. Coaching is not only desired but expected by Gen Yers, but many recognize it’s something they must earn in today’s marketplace.

“I think younger people see [coaching] as an important part of their long-term deal with the company,” Reilly said. “Part of their compensation is the company’s efforts to develop them as individuals and as managers.”

The AMA study also found the type of coaching offered has an impact on the effect. For example, it appears external coaches can be more individually effective, while internal coaches tend to be more cost-efficient in the long term.

“[I]nternal coaches often provide lower cost of services, exhibit more consistency in methods and understand the organizational culture,” said the AMA study. “However, they may also be perceived as less credible. Leaders may consider internal coaches to be less confidential. ”

The study’s authors cite a 2007 report titled “Executive Coaching for Results,” in which 59 percent of leaders indicated a preference for external coaches, while only 12 percent preferred internal coaches.

“External coaches can bring greater objectivity, fresher perspectives, higher levels of confidentiality and experience in many different organizations, industries and business environments, ” they wrote.

Regardless of what kind of coaches an organization chooses, the AMA study showed, in these troubled economic times, organizations likely will find more value than ever in leveraging coaching.

“Generally speaking, our team believes that coaching will continue to expand and mature as an important leadership development practice,” said the authors. “We expect that coaching will become one of the keys to developing and retaining scarce talent in the future, and we think companies that learn to leverage it well will have a significant competitive advantage in the global marketplace. ”

To see a full copy of the free AMA study, visit www.amanet.org and register to view the materials.

Internet Explorer does not support user names and passwords in Web site addresses (HTTP or HTTPS URLs)

On This Page

SUMMARY

MORE INFORMATION

Background information

Explanation of the change in the default behavior

Workarounds for users

URLs that are opened by users who type the URL in the Address bar or click a link

Workarounds for application and Web site developers

URLs that are opened by objects that call WinInet or Urlmon functions

URLs that are opened by a script that uses credentials for state management

How to disable the new behavior or to use it in other programs

How programs that host the Web browser control can use this new default behavior to handle user information in HTTP or in HTTPS URLs

How to disable the new default behavior for handling user information in HTTP or HTTPS URLs

REFERENCES

Streaming Overview: Terms & Tactics

In the worship space of the future, streaming videos will carry worship and pastoral messages all over the world from one church in New Zealand to a watcher / worshipper in Alaska. There are many churches that are driven by the evangelistic possibilities of the Internet to take their church online. The question is- what do you need to get started?


Streaming- A Brief Overview
While streaming technology is nothing new to the net, it is definitely the brave new frontier for churches. However there are a few key communities who are producing at the corporate level of broadcaster and re-purposing that for the web. For this article I will use the terms streaming video and downloading video interchangeably. It’s up to you if you want to make the video content available as a download. There are inherent differences in streaming versus downloading.


First, streaming data plays almost immediately-the viewer doesn’t have to wait for the downloading of the file which depending upon their connection can be substantial for video content. Also, in a streaming video, the viewer can scroll ahead once it has loaded into the browser - there is still some waiting but not for the entire file to download. However downloads are more permanent and once downloaded are often easier to watch and less jerky as well. People can auto download a file in a service like iTunes podcasting and watch it at their leisure, somewhat like Tivo.


Second, most streaming servers have multiple stream capabilities depending upon the connection. This means viewers can potentially have the same recorded content on their desktop PC at home, their handheld computer, and their iPhone™ or other video cell phone. If only downloads are available, multiple file types need to be created and then stored. The viewer then needs to find the correct file, if it is available, for their viewing purpose.
Third, the streaming server and data stream are optimized for streaming while downloads are optimized for a compromise of size versus quality which means the video quality may be better than a downloaded file.


Finally and perhaps most importantly for larger churches, a streaming media server can simultaneously serve video to a large number of viewers, while a shared web server (that most people are subscribed to) have a smaller capacity for simultaneous downloads.


If the proper research has not been done ahead of time the user may experience timeouts or ‘media unavailable’ messages or even worse, the traffic may shut down your online media server.


There is room for an entire series of articles on the server side of data transmissions, however in this article we’ll be focusing more on the production of video content for streaming media.


Where to Begin
So you are a church with media hopes - where do you start with streaming technology? You know you want to get your message out to your immediate congregation and perhaps out farther, but how does it work? What does it take to make it happen? What is the cost investment?


Let’s start by getting a general overview of the signal chain for the streaming video process. You may already be hitting all the steps and you are ready to go live, but my guess is that most are somewhere in between- looking to upgrade to this kind of capability. Here is what I would consider the essential steps for producing content.


1. Content
2. Lighting
3. Camera
4. Recording
5. Capture or Compression
6. Server


1.     Content: While this seems like a no brainer, it’s actually the most important aspect of this article. The content is the purpose and should lead the technology. The content needs to be compelling, watchable, and engaging. The content will also determine your budget and your purchases. Start with the idea that content will be what attracts and ministers to people, not technology. Every decision should be made to enhance the content.

2.     Lighting is so important. In general for any talking head, there needs to be three positions of lighting; two side lights focused on both sides of the face and one back light that will give depth and dimension. While lighting can be very expensive, it’s the single most important aspect of capturing great video. No matter how good the camera is, it’s not going to save your bad lighting. Spend a little bit more here, and better yet get a professional lighting design done and your viewers will be much happier with the result.


3.     Camera. Now that you have the lighting designed, choosing the correct camera to capture the magic becomes crucial. Budget permitting, try to go for a three CCD chip camera (see this link for definition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3CCD), which will give you the best color and capture.


4.     For a single camera shoot with a non-broadcast camera, you can use the built in tape recorder for the camera. That tape will become your master, which you will then convert for the web. In most broadcast situations, you will output your signal to a recording device rather than have a tape recorder built into the camera. This enables you to have multiple cameras process through their Color Correction Units (CCU) and mixed live via a video mixer by a director. The final mixed output is then recorded to a stand-alone digital video tape recorder or hard disk recorder.


5.     Capture and compression: Once you’ve finished editing your video (or audio), you’ll need to greatly reduce its file size so that it can be transferred over the Web effectively. Compressing audio and video can be as much an art as a science, so I have attempted to simplify the process here. You’ll need to make some choices about what dimensions you need your video to be to work with your web page design, as well as how much to compress it to retain maximum quality while addressing the bandwidth needs of the viewers.

Format: Real, QuickTime, Flash or Windows Media format? Each format has its own strengths and weaknesses. I recommend QuickTime because of its high quality, wide compatibility, and low cost (free). Because all Macs support QuickTime creation and playback natively, and because iMovie and Final Cut Pro generate QuickTime by default, QuickTime is an especially convenient choice if most of your media is generated on Macintosh computers, but it’s not limited to macs by any means.


Compression: Basically, the more you compress, the smaller the file size will be. However, more compression means throwing away more data (bits). In general, high compression means low fidelity and vice versa. I suggest you plan to deliver two types of files: A high-quality, high-bandwidth version for cable/DSL users (approx 30% of the households in the US) and a low-quality, low-bandwidth version for anyone else.


6.     Server: There are some great free server options to start. Youtube of course is king but is limited to approx 10 minutes of video at one time and the uploaded file is converted to the Youtube Flash format, which as we all know is not the highest quality. Google Video allows you to upload without any size limitation (I know!) and is a perfect solution for churches on a budget. There is also an assignable price option if you wish to sell your videos. Both of these options allow you to host your video on their server and then link the video back to your own ministry webpage to stream if you don’t mind the branding logo on the video. Of course with YouTube, you also run the risk of having your video sandwiched in between other videos which may not be optimal, given that there is a wide variety of content on YouTube, some of it decidedly not appropriate content for a house of worship audience.


There’s a new option that is quite interesting, which may be a solution for you. It’s called ustream.tv This site is different in that you allow them access to your camera as it is recording live. This site enables anyone with a camera connected to a computer and an Internet connection to have a live stream as it’s happening. The site detects your camera and does the conversion to flash. Just remember this is live TV though - no editing.


Hosting on your own church shared server or inhouse server requires a lot of homework to find out if your current server has the capability and if your service provider allows you the bandwidth. There are also higher associated costs with implementing dedicated streaming servers specific to your church.


The same solution will not work for all churches- so you will need to ask your team what the goal is, and determine which of the solutions best fits how to achieve that goal- while also leaving room for expansion into the future.

Innovating with Meaning: The Power of Meaning-Full Engagement

Have you ever worked in a job that you really didn't like or didn't feel fulfilled by the work that you were doing? More broadly, have you ever wondered if there was more to “life” than what you were experiencing? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are not alone. And importantly, you should know that because we're all human, it is totally natural--and healthy--to ask ourselves such fundamental questions about the way we work and live. In fact, we propose that the search for meaning is a “megatrend” of the 21st Century. Our book, Prisoners of Our Thoughts, deals explicitly with this quest for meaning as it applies to both our personal and work lives. It is grounded firmly in the philosophy and approach, with the personal urging, of the world-renowned psychiatrist, Dr. Viktor Frankl, author of the classic bestseller, Man's Search for Meaning.

We are, by nature, creatures of habit. Searching for a life that is both predictable and within our “comfort zone,” we rely on routine and, for the most part, learned thinking patterns. In effect, we are prone to create pathways in our minds in much the same way that a path is beaten through a grass field from repeated use. And because these patterns are automatic, we may come to believe that these habitual ways of thinking and behaving are “beyond our control.” In other words, life, it seems, just happens to us. As a consequence, we lock ourselves inside our own mental prisons and hold ourselves “Prisoners of Our Thoughts.” This, in turn, limits our true potential, including our potential to innovate--in our personal life and in our work life.

In our experience, the capacity to advance and sustain innovation at all levels, both personally and collectively, is dependent upon a level and type of “engagement” that cannot be attained without acknowledging and cultivating what Viktor Frankl referred to as the primary, intrinsic motivation of all human beings, that is, the search for meaning. To be sure, the power of full engagement is closely associated with unleashing innovation potential. But this is not enough, good intentions notwithstanding, for all approaches to achieving full engagement are not created equal. Totalitarian regimes, for example, may technically obtain “full engagement,” but they risk doing so for the wrong reasons and, ultimately, wrong results! (Do you remember when “driving fear out of the workplace” was in fashion as a guiding principle of Total Quality Management?)

Alternatively, we propose that the real objective of engagement must be founded on an authentic commitment to meaningful values and goals or to what we describe as the “will to meaning” in Prisoners of Our Thoughts. In other words, the real power behind advancing and sustaining innovation is the “power of meaning-full engagement!” And this kind of engagement can only be achieved if we are not prisoners of our thoughts and if we do not hold others prisoners in our thoughts.

Are you a prisoner of your thoughts? Moreover, are you holding your co-workers, your colleagues, your partners, and/or your customers “prisoners” in your thoughts? In order to Innovate with Meaning, we have to ensure that we don’t lock ourselves inside our own inner mental prisons. And, importantly, we have to recognize that, metaphorically-speaking, it is us, each and every one of us, who holds the key to unlocking the door to our prison cell!

Blog Co-Authors:

Dr. Alex Pattakos is the author of Prisoners of Our Thoughts (www.prisonersofourthoughts.com) and Elaine Dundon is author of The Seeds of Innovation (www.seedsofinnovation.com). They are co-authors of an article, "Innovating with Meaning," in Leadership Excellence Magazine (November 2008) and the book, Innovating with Meaning (forthcoming).

Welcome to the "Innovating with Meaning" Blog!

As the co-authors of the "Innovating with Meaning" Blog, we aim to share our perspective on how we have seen the discipline or field of Innovation Management evolve over the last decade and to where we believe the field will evolve, as well as share key lessons from our international best-selling books as they relate to these topics.  (As background, Dr. Alex Pattakos is the author of Prisoners of Our Thoughts, which focuses on how we can find deeper meaning in our work and everyday lives.  Elaine Dundon, MBA, is author of The Seeds of Innovation, which highlights numerous Innovation examples, as well as skill development in the key areas of creativity thinking, strategic thinking, and transformational thinking, each of which is critical, i.e., a core competency, for innovative thinking.).

As you know, Innovation Management is all the rage these days.  Having lead and participated in the emergence of this important field for the last decade, we have witnessed the transition from viewing Innovation as simply the commercialization of technology to a much broader perspective which encompasses Innovation in products, services, processes, and overall business and organizational strategies.

Global competition, the faster pace, and more demanding players all round have forced leaders to evaluate how they will lead and sustain Innovation. Never before has there been a greater need for strong leadership in the field of Innovation.

But we see many leaders struggling to truly lead their organization’s innovation agendas. We also see many leaders leading innovation for the sake of innovation. We see leaders embracing Innovation, then launching new products and services that really aren’t adding anything to the world or to the bottom line.

There is an overabundance of products and services from which to choose and many of these offerings are just duplications of what others are offering. Many new products and services, which are touted as innovative, don’t add any value or meaning in customers’ lives (to say nothing about the more broadly-defined "community of stakeholders").  Customers simply are not engaged.

Does the customer really want a new cherry flavor of your existing food product? Does the new food product you are offering help address the obesity problem or does it just add to the problem? Does the new paperwork system you introduced at your hospital really help simplify the process for your patients or does it just add more confusion? 

Is this happening in your organization? When you review your future, say 3 year, plans, are your innovations truly innovative and will they bring deeper meaning to your customers and employees?  Or are do they simply represent “lip service” to the overall trend of Innovation Management? In other words, are you truly “innovating with meaning?” We’d like very much to hear from you!

Prisoners of Our Thoughts: Viktor Frankl's Principles for Discovering Meaning in Life and Work applies the therapeutic system of world-renown psychiatrist and philosopher, Dr. Viktor E. Frankl, to contemporary life and work situations. Learn how to bring deeper meaning and fulfillment to your everyday life and work, and achieve your highest potential!

Exercise the freedom to choose your attitude—in all situations, no matter how desperate they may appear or actually be, you always have the ultimate freedom to choose your attitude.

Realize your will to meaning—commit authentically to meaningful values and goals that only you can actualize and fulfill.

Detect the meaning of life's moments—only you can answer for your own life by detecting the meaning at any given moment and assuming responsibility for weaving your unique tapestry of existence.

Don't work against yourself—avoid becoming so obsessed with or fixated on an intent or outcome that you actually work against the desired result.

Look at yourself from a distance—only human beings possess the capacity to look at themselves out of some perspective or distance, including the uniquely human trait known as your "sense of humor".

Shift your focus of attention—deflect your attention from the problem situation to something else and build your coping mechanisms for dealing with stress and change.

Extend beyond yourself—manifest the human spirit at work by relating and being directed to something more than yourself.

What Marketers Can Learn From Obama's Campaign

Change -- and Positioning -- You Can Believe in

Monitor shifts from print to Web-based strategy

In 2009, the Monitor will become the first nationally circulated newspaper to replace its daily print edition with its website; the 100 year-old news organization will also offer subscribers weekly print and daily e-mail editions.

posted October 28, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. EDT

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Monitor Editor John Yemma and Managing Publisher Jonathan Wells discuss the thinking behind the changes coming to the Monitor.

	Slideshow of the updated CSMonitor.com
	Slideshow of new weekly print edition prototype

A note to our subscribers from the Managing Publisher

The Christian Science Monitor plans major changes in April 2009 that are expected to make it the first newspaper with a national audience to shift from a daily print format to an online publication that is updated continuously each day.

The changes at the Monitor will include enhancing the content on CSMonitor.com, starting weekly print and daily e-mail editions, and discontinuing the current daily print format.

This new, multiplatform strategy for the Monitor will "secure and enlarge the Monitor's role in its second century," said Mary Trammell, editor in chief of The Christian Science Publishing Society and a member of the Christian Science Board of Directors. Mrs. Trammell said that "journalism that seeks to bless humanity, not injure, and that shines light on the world's challenges in an effort to seek solutions, is at the center of Mary Baker Eddy's vision for the Monitor. The method of delivery and format are secondary" and need to be adjusted, given Mrs. Eddy's call to keep the Monitor "abreast of the times."

While the Monitor's print circulation, which is primarily delivered by US mail, has trended downward for nearly 40 years, "looking forward, the Monitor's Web readership clearly shows promise," said Judy Wolff, chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Christian Science Publishing Society. "We plan to take advantage of the Internet in order to deliver the Monitor's journalism more quickly, to improve the Monitor's timeliness and relevance, and to increase revenue and reduce costs. We can do this by changing the way the Monitor reaches its readers."

The coming changes, over two years in the planning stage, occur at a time of fundamental transition in news publishing and turn the page on a remarkable chapter in American journalism. The Monitor, which celebrates its 100th anniversary on Nov. 25, was launched at the direction of church founder Eddy, who had been the subject of a searing legal and journalistic attack by Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. Officials of her church had a professional news organization up and running in just over 100 days.

In the Monitor's first edition, Mrs. Eddy defined the scope and tone of the newspaper's journalistic mission, writing that it should "injure no man, but bless all mankind."

Since that time, generations of editorial and publishing workers have devoted themselves to the Monitor. While Mrs. Eddy's paper was initially greeted with skepticism, the Monitor won respect from its journalistic peers; it has been awarded seven Pulitzer Prizes and numerous other journalistic accolades. Three Monitor editors have been elected president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

Monitor editor John Yemma said that while the methods of publishing Monitor journalism have evolved over 100 years, the underlying motives and approach remain constant.

"In the Monitor's next century, as with its first century, it is committed to finding answers to the world's most important problems, asking the questions that matter and getting the story behind the news - all of which is staying true to Mrs. Eddy's unselfish, original vision," he said. "The Monitor's role is right there in its name. It's to monitor the world, to keep an eye on the world from a perspective of hope."

Mrs. Wolff cited three goals that drove what she called "our evolving strategy" for the Monitor:

• Producing a website that can be updated 24/7 and delivered instantaneously "better fulfills Mrs. Eddy's original vision" for the Monitor to be daily than does a five-day-a-week paper delivered by mail with frequent delays.

• Focusing resources on the fast-growing Web audience for news rather than on the economically troubled daily newspaper industry "increases the Monitor's reach and impact." The Monitor's website currently attracts about 1.5 million visitors a month.

• Eliminating the major production and distribution costs of a daily newspaper will allow the Monitor to "make progress toward achieving financial sustainability" while supporting its global news resources.

Attaining these goals over the next five years would provide stability and continuity for Monitor journalism over the long run, said Mr. Yemma, who took office as the Monitor's editor in July after holding a number of editorial positions at the Boston Globe. Throughout the news industry, he added, publications are struggling with the profound disruption brought on by the Internet and the rising costs of newsprint and transportation.

The Monitor has required a subsidy from the Christian Science church for most of its history. In the current budget year ending April 30, the Monitor in all forms is forecast to lose $18.9 million. The church will provide a subsidy of $12.1 million from its general fund, with earnings from the Monitor Endowment Fund and donor contributions to the Monitor's operating fund covering the balance. The changes in strategy are projected gradually to decrease the Monitor's net operating loss to $10.5 million in 2013, so the church general fund subsidy will be $3.7 million, said managing publisher Jonathan Wells.

"Changes in the industry - changes in the concept of news and the economics underlying the industry - hit the Monitor first," given its relatively small size and the complex logistics required for national distribution, Mr. Wells said. "We are sometimes forced to be an early change agent."

All three Monitor publications – website, weekly print edition, and daily e-mail edition – will be produced by the same editorial staff. The Monitor will continue to operate at its current level of international and domestic coverage, with bureaus throughout the globe, and a strong presence in Washington. Yemma and Wells said these bureaus represent a distinct competitive advantage for the Monitor at a time when other news organizations are cutting back on staff coverage from outside their circulation regions.

"A modest reduction" in the Monitor's 95-person editorial staff is likely, once the transition to the new product line-up is completed, Yemma said.

A new design for the Monitor's website is being phased in. It is the first step in what Yemma said would be "a much more robust Web presence." In addition to frequent updating with the latest news seven days a week, the plan is for the site to become a portal where editors will point visitors to other areas on the Web that are attempting journalism in the same spirit as the Monitor. Yemma said he wants to encourage much more two-way conversation between readers and Monitor staffers to "build a community of people who care about the values the Monitor stands for."

The Monitor's new weekly print edition will launch in April and be priced at $3.50 per copy or $89 for a year's subscription. A full-price subscription to the current daily print edition is $219. "We hope the people who subscribe to the daily will shift to the weekly and that many more who may not have had time to read the daily will find the weekly appeals to them," Yemma said.

Produced on high grade paper in a 10" by 12" size, the weekly will feature an in-depth cover story on a major global issue or trend; brief dispatches from Monitor correspondents around the globe; the best photographs of the week; special sections on innovation, the environment, and personal finance; as well as Home Forum essays and a single religious article, as has been the Monitor's practice since 1908.

Like the new print weekly, the new daily electronic edition will be offered by subscription. It will be a multipage PDF file sent by e-mail to subscribers Monday through Friday. The format makes it convenient for subscribers to print out the daily e-news edition at home. This publication will contain an original column by Monitor editors, the top Monitor stories of the day, links to other reports on the Monitor's website, and the daily religious article. Pricing has not been announced.

Reaching the improved financial targets in the Monitor's new business plan will depend on significant growth in Web traffic and on current subscribers to the daily paper transferring their subscriptions to the weekly edition and the daily e-mail edition, Wolff said. "If you are a current subscriber, we ask you to stay with us. If you do not subscribe, we hope you will subscribe to the Monitor now as it embarks on its second century."

This is a period of extreme financial difficulty for all news organizations. New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., for instance, was asked at a conference in California on Oct. 22 whether the Times would be a print product in 10 years. "The heart of the answer must be (that) we can't care," Sulzberger said. He added that he expects print to be around for a long time but "we must be where people want us for our information."

The cost, delay, and waste generated by daily print are huge hindrances, said Yemma. The Monitor can lead the way in providing news primarily online.

"The Christian Science Monitor finds itself uniquely positioned to take advantage of developing technologies, market conditions, and news consumption habits that can dramatically increase its relevance, reach, and utility; place it on a sound financial footing; and allow it to pursue its unique mission of providing global perspective and illuminating the human dimension behind international news," Yemma noted.

The fact that Obama has taken what we thought we knew about politics and turned it into a different game for a different generation is no longer news. What has hardly been examined is the degree to which his success indicates a seismic shift on the business horizon as well. Politics, after all, is about marketing -- about projecting and selling an image, stoking aspirations, moving people to identify, evangelize, and consume. The promotion of the brand called Obama is a case study of where the American marketplace -- and, potentially, the global one -- is moving. His openness to the way consumers today communicate with one another, his recognition of their desire for authentic "products," and his understanding of the need for a new global image -- all are valuable signals for marketers everywhere.

"Barack Obama is three things you want in a brand," says Keith Reinhard, chairman emeritus of DDB Worldwide. "New, different, and attractive. That's as good as it gets." Obama has his greatest strength among the young, roughly 18 to 29 years old, that advertisers covet, the cohort known as millennials -- who will outnumber the baby boomers by 2010. They are black, white, yellow, and various shades of brown, but what they share -- new media, online social networks, a distaste for top-down sales pitches -- connects them more than traditional barriers, such as ethnicity, divide them.

With Smartphones, Cher Wang Made Her Own Fortune

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No one is ever going to call Cher Wang “poor little rich girl.”

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Peter DaSilva for The New York Times

Cher Wang of HTC. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1981.

Related

Times Topics: Google Phone

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Pichi Chuang/Reuters

The G1 phone, running Google software, is made by HTC.

The daughter of one of the richest men in the world, she never made headlines as a profligate jet setter sponging off her father’s wealth.

Indeed, she rarely makes headlines at all, although she started her own multibillion-dollar company and made her own fortune.

Ms. Wang is one of the most powerful female executives in technology whom you have never heard of. The company she founded, the HTC Corporation, makes one out of every six smartphones sold in the United States, most of which are marketed under brands like Palm and Verizon.

Last week the iPhone’s most likely rival, the T-Mobile G1, designed by HTC and powered by Google’s Android operating system, went on sale. The attention is something HTC has never sought. And the same can be said of Ms. Wang.

“I kind of like it that way,” she said in a rare interview last month as she tucked into a lunch of mahi mahi, spinach and mushrooms at the Faculty Club at the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated in 1981. “I don’t need to be the center of attention.”

In her native Taiwan, though, where she is called Wang Hsiueh-Hong, Ms. Wang and her family are a technology dynasty. Her recently deceased father, Wang Yung-Ching, founded the plastics and petrochemicals conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group. According to Forbes magazine, he was the second richest man in Taiwan. Two of his daughters serve on Formosa’s seven-member executive team.

Another daughter, Charlene Wang, helped found First International Computer in 1980, a maker of motherboards. And Cher Wang is chairwoman of not one, but two companies: HTC and VIA Technologies, a developer of silicon chip technology, where her husband, Wen Chi Chen, has been chief executive since 1992.

Forbes estimates the couple’s wealth at $3.5 billion. HTC’s revenue in 2007 reached 118.6 billion Taiwanese dollars, or about $3.7 billion. But Ms. Wang said she was not defined by wealth — either her own or her parents’.

“My family was very strict,” she said. Leisure time was spent playing tennis or basketball. And becoming a lady who lunches was not an option. “My father thought we should experience different things.”

When she was a young girl, Ms. Wang said, her father would take her on monthly visits to a local hospital he helped finance. And at her father’s behest, Ms. Wang and her siblings studied abroad instead of staying in Taipei.

That is how she ended up in Silicon Valley. Ms. Wang was born in Taipei in 1958, one of seven children raised by her father’s second wife. (Altogether Mr. Wang had nine children by three wives.) While some of the other children went to private schools in London, the United States held more appeal for Ms. Wang.

In 1974 she attended the exclusive College Preparatory School in Oakland, Calif. (Her older sister Charlene was living in the Bay Area.) Ms. Wang lived with a local pediatrician and his family. After graduating from high school, she went to Berkeley, where she was admitted as a music major; she wanted to be a pianist. But after three weeks — and a stern talk with her adviser — she switched to economics, in which she later earned a master’s degree.

“This is the building I ran away from,” she said on a walk around campus, pointing to a second-story room at the music school where she had auditioned, playing a piece by Chopin. “I had the dream, but I am also very realistic.”

After graduating from Berkeley, she took a job in 1982 at First International Computer, where she sold motherboards and later oversaw the personal computer division.

When HTC was founded in 1997, the company made notebook computers. Her husband recalled that a few years after the company started, Ms. Wang and her partners were forced to make a choice: focus on notebooks or shift gears to hand-held devices, a market that showed signs of promise. Ms. Wang urged they shift to cellphones.

“HTC had strong engineers developing notebooks,” said Mr. Chen. “But it was a volatile business with lots of competitors. She saw that clearly and pushed for the other instead.”

It was a smart decision. HTC’s revenue tallied about $1 billion in the most recent quarter, a 29 percent increase from a year earlier. “She is very demanding in one sense,” said Mr. Chen. “If she wants something changed, she’ll speak up about it.”

In HTC’s early days Ms. Wang’s responsibility was to build relationships with customers, including wireless carriers, and vendors whose products HTC needed. She spent a lot of time in Silicon Valley. It was then she became close to executives at T-Mobile, which was critical in securing the right to make the first Android-supported phone.

She also managed HTC’s relationship with Microsoft, a longtime partner whose operating system is installed on most HTC phones. Once a year, Ms. Wang said, she flies to Seattle and meets with Bill Gates and Steven A. Ballmer, the company’s chief executive.

She keeps her life simple. On her 50th birthday last month, she stayed home and ate strawberry ice cream cake with her family. Despite her status as a member of technology’s billionaire club, she eschews being ferried by private jet from her offices in Taipei to Silicon Valley. And instead of taking business associates out for a lavish dinner, she invites them to an early morning basketball game instead.

Stephen Zelencik, a retired head of sales and marketing for Advanced Micro Devices, has known Ms. Wang since she was a young executive working for First International Computer. But in his encounters with her at HTC, he learned how relentless she could be.

He recalled a particular exhausting negotiation, lasting more than a week in Taipei, when Ms. Wang was holding out for a lower price on a large order of microprocessors HTC wanted to buy from A.M.D.

The two had loosely agreed on a price. But Ms. Wang, sensing an opportunity on the last day, told him she wanted a lower price, tapped her watch and pointed out his plane was leaving at 2 p.m. “She wanted me to relent,,” he said.

Mr. Zelencik said he replied, “ ‘We don’t have to catch the plane.’ Then she said, ‘O.K. We’ll negotiate.’ ” Ultimately, the two agreed to keep the deal as is. “It was negotiated in her favor,” he said. “But she would always give it one more try.”

Faith plays an important part in her life. A Christian (like her husband), she said she belongs to no specific denomination but attends church whenever she can. Spirituality informs how she lives. “I feel everyone has their own faults,” she said. “We have to understand why people are like that — is it the environment or the background.” But it informs her work too. “Jesus also tells us you have to work hard, not be sluggish,” she said.

She shuttles mostly among three cities: she and her husband have a home in Mountain View, Calif. (where one of her two sons lives), a house in Taipei and an apartment in Beijing, which is used mostly for business. While Ms. Wang has stepped away from much of the day-to-day running of HTC, she is still active in the company by meeting clients and negotiating deals. And she remains an arbiter of HTC’s style, a role she relishes.

“All these kids were into something,” said Mr. Zelencik. “They just didn’t sit around and spend the money.”

And Ms. Wang would have it no other way. “I always have this imagination, something I want to use,” she said. “I don’t understand the idea of leisure time.”

15

Audience Needs Map

35

Push Transition

39

Sketching With Diagrams

121

Traversing Dimensions

155

Text Animation

170

Complex Stories

176

Incorporating Video

184

Animation Serves a Purpose

188

Objects Move and Change

192

Creating Scenes, Not Slides

195

The Sum of
Its Parts

197

Combination Lock

198

All the World's
a Stage

238

The Sky is
the Limit

links

URLs Referenced

ABOUT THE WORK

The concepts and content in the
book were created by Duarte Design.

STILL WANT MORE?

• slide:ology Blog
• Presentation Zen
• speaking.alltop
• Seminars hosted by Duarte

Blogging Becomes Mainstream

Paul Verna, Senior Analyst

I Think, Therefore I Am . . . or Maybe Not

Posted on 05 September 2008

Update: Geno got the call around 10:20AM EST this morning that McKenzie has been found and is safe and sound. Thank you ALL for the unprecedented support in getting the word out with the social networking tools available to all of us. You don’t know how much it means to Geno and the entire Brains on Fire family. Onward!

Today, in our haste to get the word out about Geno Church’s 14 year old missing daughter, I made a huge mistake. I SO wanted to get the word out FAST, I was part of a small team that created a predictable “missing” poster. According to police, we had all the information right.

And it worked.

Hundreds of folks picked Kenzie ’s information up on twitter and blogs and facebook. And for that we are very thankful. The media reached out to us all day in honest and authentic compassion.

Many people mistakenly see ‘Facebook’ or ‘MySpace’ or other social media services as groups or communities in an of themselves.  I hear things like, “The Facebook community…” or “The MySpace community…”  Truth is, Facebook and other social media services are more like online megacities - many diverse communities gathered into an online space.  But, unlike offline megacities which function in a single geographical area, these online megacities don’t use a single social media service (aka online geographical area) to meet their need to connect with other human beings.

That paragraph may be as clear as mud if you don’t interact online regularly, so let me give you an example.  There is a community of over 100 men and women, from the ages of 15 to 50, spread across the world, who like to knit and crochet.  They use the strengths of many social services to connect throughout the day.  They talk in depth on their blogs, chat in Plurk and Twitter, share photos with Flickr, and video with YouTube.  They buy and sell products through a social network for knitters, called Ravelry.  Update:They interact in a Facebook-like social network called Ravelry.  They also buy and sell products using a service called Etsy.  They meet offline in small gatherings, even though all the offline members do not necessarily interact online.  They constantly talk about family, cooking, work, projects, hopes, and failures.  They encourage one another all the time.

There isn’t a single social media service that fulfills all their needs, so they use many.  And they are pretty typical.

So, what does that mean?  Well, being active in one social media service isn’t going to cut it.  We have to follow the trail of community interaction and use what they use.  We cannot say we want to start a spiritual community in Facebook and think that will get the job done.  We need thousands of communities that operate across multiple social media services if we ever want to make an impact in lostness online.

What most people don't realize, however, is how pervasive pornography and sexual addiction is among professing Christians - both men and women - and even pastors.  According to recent surveys:

• 60 percent of Christian men and 35 percent of women admit to struggling with pornography.  The real statistics are probably much higher. 
• Four out of every seven calls to the "Focus on the Family" help line are pornography-related.
• Thirty-seven (37) percent of pastors admit to the addiction.

Choosing to take the family to a southern California beach can be a simple and easy decision. At the beach everyone can share distinct experiences, and it can even be inexpensive. A more exciting choice can be made if you stop to consider your options. You can take your family to the beach to enjoy the ocean and the perfect climate, but why not go to share the recreational activities? Each Orange County beach offers something unique and fetching.

Moments of delight will turn into lifelong memories for the whole family. Beach visits brighten the day, and everyone will be left with a lasting, warm glow.

On the northern border of Orange County is Seal Beach, a very popular family spot. Seal beach has the sought after proximity of specialty shops located just on the west side of the Pacific Coast Highway.

That's because most people don't take notes to be read. They take notes to write them. The act of writing things down triggers different areas of our brain, it focuses attention, it makes it easier to remember things. You can read your blog notes later and say, "yeah, I remember that slide..." But for an outsider who's not there, the amount of information that's imparted is small indeed.

Compare these liveblog posts to posts written an hour later, ones that digest and reflect and chunk the information. These are deliberately designed to inform the reader, not to remind the writer.

ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES

Methods of Inquiry Syllabus:514

Gustav W. Friedrich

Disciplines = Branches of knowledge or of teaching which are . . .
Academic = liberal or classical rather than technical or vocational.

Academic Disciplines are often arranged in order of exactitude or predictability, from . . .

1. Fine Arts (e.g., Music, Art, Theater)
Goal = Aesthetic appreciation of the activity of creating inspiring things.
Method = Performing.

2. Humanities (e.g., Classics, English, History, Philosophy, Modern Languages)
Goal = Understanding the uniqueness of the human mind and spirit.
Method = Historical and Critical.

3. Social Sciences (e.g., Anthropology, Communication, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology)
Goal = Explain, predict, and control human behavior.
Method = Empirical (Descriptive and Experimental).

Two divisions:
*General (generalized study of human actions):
Anthropology: study of the origin, culture, and development of people.
Psychology: study of the individual's mental processes and behavior.
Sociology: study of human beings in interdependence.
*Concrete (study of human actions defined by their ends):
Communication: study of how, why, and with what effect people use symbols.
Economics: study of the production, distribution, and consumption of commodities.
Political Science: study of human behavior in government and politics.

4. Sciences (e.g., Life Sciences such as Botany, Biology, and Zoology; and Physical Sciences such as Chemistry, Physics, and Astronomy)
Goal = Explain, predict, and control nature.
Method = Empirical (Descriptive and Experimental).

Three divisions:
*In physical sciences, functions are non-purposive; they are automatic and
indifferent.
*In Botany, functions are purposive; they sustain life, but without awareness.
*In Biology, functions are purposive; they sustain life, and neural systems give awareness of present (sense of well being) and memory of past.

5. Mathematics
Goal = Understand abstract relationships.
Method = Theoretical and Logical.

Yogurtland Named "Best Frozen Yogurt" in Downtown Los Angeles

LA MIRADA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yogurtland Franchising, Inc., everyone's favorite self-serve frozen yogurt shop, continues to expand nationwide with the opening of a store in the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles and another in Carrollton, Texas near Dallas. The new locations mark the 21st and 22nd Yogurtland stores to open across the country.

The Yogurtland Miracle Mile store is located at 310 South La Brea Avenue while the Yogurtland Carrollton store is located at 2625 Old Denton Road. Yogurtland stores are currently located across Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, San Bernardino and Cupertino, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Greenwich Village, New York; Honolulu, Hawaii and Carrollton, Texas.

Adding to its buzz in the L.A. market, Los Angeles Downtown News recently named Yogurtland the "Best Frozen Yogurt" during its 2008 Best of Downtown contest. Yogurtland was chosen over other brands, including some well-known names, due to its wide variety of flavors and toppings, the taste of its yogurt, self-serve approach and low price point.

ABOUT YOGURTLAND

Yogurtland Franchising, Inc. opened its first store in 2006 in Fullerton, CA. There are currently 22 stores in service across the country. Yogurtland differs from competitors with its unique self-serve concept allowing patrons to customize their own creation by choosing from 16 rotating flavors and 33 toppings. All dispense-your-own goods are between 30-39 cents per ounce. For more information, visit www.yogurt-land.com.

How To Keep Track Of Your Spending

December 5, 2006 - Category: Budget

One of the first steps of sound financial management is tracking your spending. Once you track your spending and are able to see where the money goes, it’s easier to attempt to control your spending. How can you control something when you have no idea what it is you need to control? The bottom line is, tracking your spending goes hand in hand with controlling it.

Tracking, but no control

However, despite the wonderful resources available to track your spending, it still seems to be out of control for most people. Money management programs such as Quicken and MS Money are great tools to help you track your spending. In fact, electronic methods of payment such as debit and credit cards are also great at helping you track your finances. Every transaction can be easily downloaded or viewed. But if these tools are so wonderful at tracking expenses, why are most people’s finances out of control?

Despite the ease of tracking spending using credit cards, credit card debt is rampant. Americans carry, on average, $5,800 in credit card debt from month to month (www.cardweb.com). The Federal Reserve states that, on average, the typical credit card purchase is 112% higher than if using cash. It seems the convenience of using credit cards makes it a little too easy to spend money.

Control, but no tracking

On the other side of the fence are cash and check transactions. While spending with paper currency gives you a higher degree of control (especially cash), it’s a pain to track. Nobody enjoys balancing their checkbook, compulsively saving receipts, or entering expenses into a spending notebook.

The secret to tracking and controlling your spending effortlessly

So what’s the solution that will allow you to track what you spend and maintain total control over your spending? The answer is CASH.

“What? Cash? I thought you just told me that cash is a pain to track? Plus I LOVE the convenience of my credit card.”

Ok, before you blow me off, just hold on for one more minute. I’m not saying that ALL spending needs to be cash, just the categories that are out of control. As my wife and I worked out our financial plan we realized there was a very small set of categories that were out of control. These will vary from person to person but our hard-to-control categories were:

o Grocery

o Household

o Eat Out

o Clothing

o Personal

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Figure out your own hard-to-control categories and you’ll know which ones you should use cash for. Your other expenses will be dealt with separately and I’ll explain how you should manage them in another post. As a first step, we just want to get these categories under control.

So, here are the steps to tracking and controlling your spending effortlessly. And the great news is you can start it TODAY!

1) Identify which categories are problematic (you tend to overspend).

2) Commit to not buying ANYTHING in that category with a credit card.

3) Go to the bank and withdraw the amount you think you will or should spend on the category UNTIL THE END OF THE MONTH.

4) Put that money in an envelope and write down the date, how much you took out, and the category. To simplify things you can just write this information on the envelope, but feel free to record it in any trusted place.

That’s it! Financial peace has just been achieved. Well, not quite. One of two things will happen. 1) You won’t spend all the cash and will have money left over at the end of the month or 2) you will spend all the cash before the end of the month and need more.

If the first scenario happens, great! Keep the money in the envelope and just add to it at the beginning of the next month. On the other hand, if you spend all the money and need more, don’t stress! Just go withdraw the additional cash that you think you need for the rest of the month and record it on the envelope.

Either way at the end of the month you will now have an idea of how much is needed for that category and will be able to estimate next month’s amount more accurately. Don’t worry about getting it exactly right for now. It will typically take doing this for about 3 months until you have a really accurate estimate.

Even then, these problematic categories are problems because they tend to fluctuate so much. If you’re tight financially, this is a great time to see if what you think you’re spending is in touch with reality. It’s also a perfect way to control your spending by deciding before hand how much you really think you should spend on that category. Just like they always taught me in Sunday School, it’s important to decide ahead of time how you’re going to respond in tough situations. Similarly, you should decide how much you want to spend BEFORE you’re standing the grocery aisle trying to justify purchasing that extra bag of cookies.

Now, if you already track your spending electronically (e.g. in Quicken or online) you should be able to make very accurate estimates from the get go. If that’s the case, great! Your just one step ahead and this process will be a little easier. Even so, you may have trouble tracking some spending such as single transactions that cover multiple categories. Wal-Mart is one of the biggest offenders. I can’t tell you how many times, in the name of tracking every penny, we agonized over a Wal-Mart receipt trying to determine which portion was grocery, household, medical, etc.

Goals of the process

While going through this process there are a few goals you should work towards.

1) Figure out how much you really spend.

2) Make your spending habits more conscious.

3) Control your spending.

Figure out how much you spend (get in touch with reality)

One of the huge benefits of going through this process is that over a few months you will get a very accurate idea of what you spend with very little effort. One thing many of you will have noticed is that you won’t have a perfect “to the penny” record of what you spend. Rather, you will just know the total amount you spent for the month. Enjoy this fact. Enjoy the freedom, the need to not have to calculate every single transaction. You just open the envelope and if there’s money you can spend it.

At the end of the month it will be very clear if you didn’t budget enough; your envelope will be empty and you will feel like you just didn’t have quite enough.

The analytical crowd may cringe at not tracking every cent but let me ask you, what’s the benefit of tracking every penny versus the total amount? There are very few situations in which it really matters. These days, most of the expenses will be at Wal-mart anyway. The goal is really just to get an overall amount that you tend to spend. By not tracking every penny we will still have an accurate budget but it will be accurate on a summary level rather than a detailed level. As we address your non-cash expenses you’ll see that you WILL know how much you spend every month to the penny but you won’t necessarily have a record of WHERE you spend your cash expenses.

Now I can still see the analytical people out there still cringing. If you REALLY want to track every single purchase, go ahead. If you really have no idea where you’re spending your money, it would be very useful to see where it’s going. If you currently use credit cards you can just look at your statement. Otherwise, feel free to keep receipts and enter them into a notebook or Quicken. In fact, my wife and I had used Quicken faithfully for years so we already knew where we spent our money. Most people have a pretty good sense where the money goes. They just need a way to control the outflow.

Make your spending habits more conscious

Really the goal for now really isn’t to reduce your spending, although for most people that will be a natural result. Instead, you just need to make your spending more conscious. Don’t just pull out plastic and not worry whether or not you have the money.

One great thing about cash is that it’s very tangible. Most people have a visceral reaction to spending cold hard cash. It can be hard to see those Georges sniff, Hamiltons (baby) sniff-sniff, and Franklins triple-sniff fly out the window. Plus it’s a very visual medium. An empty envelope definitely sends a signal that credit cards simply can’t duplicate. I can’t tell you how many times I told myself I’d pay with a credit card and just worry about where the money would come from later (I only did this in a previous life, of course).

Control your spending

Notice that I said “control” your spending, not “reduce” your spending. The main point right now is to simply control what you spend. Decide ahead of time how much you are going to take out; how much you think is reasonable for that category. By making that conscious decision you have already increased your chances tremendously that you won’t overspend. If you run out, you will have to make a very conscious decision whether or not to withdraw more. True, it’s not as convenient to withdraw more many than just using a credit card. And that’s exactly why you won’t spend the 112% more that I mentioned earlier.

What does it mean to keep track of every penny you earn? Your Money or Your Life recommends that you keep a Daily Money Log. This log can take any form.

• a pocket-sized memo book
• a 3×5 card (or the hipster PDA)
• an actual PDA
• an appointment book
• a computer text file
• a checkbook register
• personal finance software
• a spreadsheet

The most important thing is to use the log. Every time you get money — whether it’s from a paycheck or a garage sale or picking up change from the ground — write it down. Every time you spend money — whether it’s paying bills or buying coffee or paying bus fare — write it down. Keep track of every penny that enters or leaves your life.

Tracking your spending helps to demystify money — you begin to perceive it as a tool. You gain a sense of power — you no longer feel that money controls you, but that you control money. Your awareness of your money habits is sharpened, allowing you to make changes to improve your situation. This is an essential money skill, and it’s easy. Try this for two weeks and you’ll find that it becomes second nature.

When you track your spending, it’s important not to make judgments. This activity is meant to describe your money habits, not to change them. (You do want to change them, of course, but that’s a separate task.)

Here are some things I’ve learned over the past few years of tracking my own spending:

• Be careful with transactions that are easy to forget. Some transactions — cash transactions, online transactions, transactions without a receipt — are quickly forgotten. Take special steps to remember these, such as…
• Get a receipt for everything. It’s easy to forget were you spent your money on just 24 hours later. Make a habit of putting all your receipts in one place so that you know where to find them.
• It’s best to process your transactions daily. I find this hard to do. I process my transactions weekly. If I go longer than this, something invariably gums up the works: I can’t remember a transaction, can’t find a receipt, etc.
• Make it a routine. If you get in the habit of tracking your spending, it becomes second nature.
• As always, do what works for you. No one system is perfect for everybody. The important thing is to track your spending. How you do this is up to you.

Here’s what works for me:

1. I try to get a receipt for every transaction. If one is unavailable, I jot a note to myself as soon as I can.
2. I tuck these receipts (and scribbled notes) into my wallet. My wallet essentially serves as my Daily Money Log.
3. At least once a week, I take my wad of receipts and enter the transactions into Quicken.

This process paints a picture of your spending habits as they actually exist, not as you think they exist. You can use this information to create a budget. Or, at the very least, to serve as snapshot of where your money goes. Without this method, it’s difficult to know exactly how much you really spend on thneeds or zizzer-zoof seeds.

10 Prolific Bloggers Share Tips on Generating Conversation on Blogs

Miscellaneous Blog Tips 9 comments

Yesterday I gave 13 tips for having great conversations on a blog. As a followup to that I shot an email to a number of bloggers that have a habit of having active comment sections to ask them how they make their blogs more conversational.

As expected - their responses were rich and full of goodness! Here are their responses.

Leo Babauta

“Conversation on Zen Habits is as important or more important than the posts themselves. The readers on my blog have really formed a positive community and I am deeply grateful for such a great readership.

A few things I’ve done to foster conversation at Zen Habits:

1. Write posts that go beyond the usual and provoke a little thought and some sort of response from readers. If your post doesn’t generate some kind of emotion in your readers — whether that’s inspiration, motivation, anger, laughter, whatever — you need to look at ways of being a bit bolder while still being true to yourself and your readers.

2. Ask for thoughts at the end of the post. Ask them to post their ideas, thoughts, experiences in the comments.

3. Always, always be grateful for comments, and don’t attack commenters. This is huge for me. Even if a commenter is negative or even a bit rude, I thank the commenter. I try to find the nugget of truth or wisdom in the comment and ignore the rudeness. I never reply in anger. I try to be grateful for the feedback, because it helps me to get better. And I try to learn from my readers instead of thinking. I have all the answers.

4. Sometimes it’s better to step back and let readers converse. Conversations don’t always have to be between the reader and the blogger. Conversations between readers can be lively and enlightening. Don’t feel you have to respond to every comment — let others handle things sometimes, and only step in when you have something valuable to contribute that others couldn’t contribute themselves.”

Gala Darling

 “People always say that you need to start conversations on your blog in order to foster community, but one of the main problems is that some people try to do it just because they think they should — out of some sense of “blogger obligation” (blogligation?!), rather than an authentic desire.

The most important thing in blogging, I think, is to be genuine. This applies to getting people to comment, too. If you don’t actually care about what your readers have to say on a given topic, that comes through pretty clearly, & you’re not going to get the response you’re hoping for. People can smell your lack of sincerity, & they won’t bother!

All that aside, I find that the best tactics for stimulating conversation are to…
a) talk about something which everyone has an opinion on
b) ask for people’s real life experiences
c) share something personal & invite others to do the same
d) request advice or help — people love to help others!

Of course, the more positive energy you put into your writing, the more likely it is that people will bounce that back at you… So if you make an effort to write with a sense of fun & delight, your readers will respond positively in their own charming, utterly individual way!”

Duncan Riley

 “By making commenting as easy as possible, and by facilitating conversations where people want to have them. We use the commenting 2.0 service Disqus (although there are a number of players you can use), and the first advantage is that Disqus users can immediately leave a comment without having to enter their personal details, encouraging more spontaneous commenting. Further to that, they can track comments they’ve left on Disqus and easily comment again on the same post in response to other comments left where as in the past, a comment may have been a one off without followup. We’ve found that using a service such as Disqus delivers more comments, and increases the levels of engagement and repeat traffic, and it’s why I’ve been more than happy to evangelize the commenting 2.0 space.

On the broader conversation front, we also incorporate comments from FriendFeed, both in importing FriendFeed comments in, and allowing people to make comments using their FriendFeed account on the site itself. We often see far more discussion on FriendFeed than directly through comments on the site. People are going to have those conversations anyway, so if you can incorporate FriendFeed comments on your site and give people a choice to use their FriendFeed account as well, its a win/win: a win for your site, and a win for your readers.”

Liz Strauss

 “I do a few things to keep the conversation going. I try to write my blog posts complete, but not too thorough so that readers can add something to what I’ve started. I also try to learn rather than teach — that’s a hard one. When I end a blog post with a question, I make sure that it’s one that can be answered and that I’d be able to answer it myself. In the comment box, I look at who’s talking and answer to that individual. I’ll often continue the dialogue by ending my comment with another question. Sometimes it makes sense to stay back and let readers talk with each other. They discover and uncover even more ideas if I’m not in there talking all of the time.

Mostly though, I make sure that everyone knows that their ideas are respected and protected. There’s one rule on my blog, “disagree all you want, but be nice.” Saying “thanks,” doesn’t hurt either. “

Timothy Ferris

“-Ask questions at the end of the post — ideally ask for not just facts but opinions. Few people feel qualified to offer facts but everyone has opinions.

-Do not try and be comprehensive on a topic. Offer your strongest position and don’t hedge or steal others’ thunder; let readers add their perspectives.

-Identify and thank commenters on occasion in main blog posts. Make them famous (even for one post) and make it clear that you’re reading the comments, especially to those who have never left one b/c they assume you don’t.”

Jason Falls

 “I foster conversation on my blog by taking a stand on issues. Sure, that can be polarizing, but that’s the point. Nothing gets people either yelling, “Amen,” or, “You S-O-B,” better than drawing a line and saying, you’re either with me or against me. Pick one.

But I would caution you to make sure you’re ready for it. Thick skin, a healthy dose of humility, a sense of humor and the ability to disagree without being disagreeable are required.”

Jeremy Schoemaker

 “I try to inspire conversation on my blog by asking a questions throughout the post.”

Chris Garrett

 “There are three types of conversation that I see on blogs.

1) Inter-blogger conversation - Bloggers talking to each other through their blogs

2) Blogger-Reader conversation - Bloggers and their readers discussing topics through posts and comments

3) Reader-Reader conversation - Readers creating conversations in the comment area

The last one is the least common and for those who want to build community, it’s the holy grail.

To foster the first, you have to get into a link bait state of mind. Which approach is going to get a reaction, how can you press topical or emotional hot-buttons? Many bloggers drift into snark territory with those. It could, though, be as simple as linking to other bloggers with an interesting and unusual question that you would like to see answered.

Most people know what to do with the second. Getting readers to comment is about leaving the opening, inviting a response, and creating the appropriate environment. In marketing terms this would be a “call to action”. At the end of your post ask for comments in a way that anyone can answer without fear of looking stupid.

For readers to comment to each other takes that commenting environment to a new level, and also requires that you get out of the way a bit. So while you answering comments encourages more comments, answering too often discourages readers answering each other. You have to balance the need to make commenters feel valued and welcome, with the need to open up the floor for other readers to jump in and respond to another comment.”

John Chow

 “The best way I’ve found to foster conversation on my blog is to ask for feedback from my readers. If you want something, you have to ask for it. I got a free Macbook Air at IZEA Fest because I asked for it. You’ll be amazed at what you can get if you simply ask.

Once you get the feedback, the next thing you need to do is to reply to it. Fostering conversation is a two way street. If your reader took the time out to make a comment on your blog, please reply to it.”

Lorelle VanFossen

 “While I believe conversation and interactivity is the key to the definition of a blog, I find the issue of blog conversations fascinating. Not all blogs need comments. Not all of my blog posts need comments either. The conversation can happen on the blog or in someone’s head and I’m still happy. But when I want to get the conversation rolling, it rolls because of the community created by the blog’s overall theme, content, purpose, history, and historical climate of trust.

While many will tell you the basics of opening up the blog conversation by writing open ended blog posts, asking questions of your readers, and leaving room for them to enter the conversation, I believe that people contribute their thoughts to my blog because they already feel like I’m their friend. They trust me. We’ve created a relationship. They feel like they know me, thus feel safe leaving a comment. We’re family.

Creating a safe space for comments doesn’t happen with your first blog post. It might not even happen with your 1000th. It begins with trust. Your blog showcases your history and expertise in the subject matter. Your blog post publishing history speaks for your passion for the subject, enthusiasm, and consistency - you’ve been there and you will continue to be there. When you show you care about the readers, and you are blogging for them and their needs, they tend to open up the conversation with you more than you open it up for them.

The synergy of like-minds keeps the conversation going. You don’t have to respond to every comment, but you must let your community think that you do. When you show you care, they care back, and together you create the content on your blog.”

Is Every Student a Leader?

Article by Tim Elmore

There I stood in front of a crowd of one thousand students and faculty members, at a university in the Midwest. One instructor stood up with a question I get almost everywhere I go. Usually it is asked by a person who already has an answer—they just want to hear what I’m going to say to this seemingly obvious question…

“Is everyone a leader?”

The answer of course is yes and no. (How’s that for a politically correct answer?)  It all depends on how you define the word “leader.”  If you define it in the traditional fashion—that a leader is someone with a position, in charge of a group of people in an organization—then, the answer is no, in my opinion. Not everyone and certainly not every student is gifted to become the president, the chairman, the CEO, or the key leader of a large team of people. Most will never occupy a top spot in a flow chart. Perhaps only ten percent of the population will. For the sake of discussion, we’ll call these people “Leaders” with a capital “L.”

If leadership means possessing a gift to organize groups of people to accomplish a task, then it’s exclusive and obviously not for everyone. In fact, we will frustrate students by telling them they are “Leaders,” only to disappointment them with a lofty ideal they’ll never attain. Most of the arguments surrounding this big question boil down to contrasting definitions.

If we define leadership, however, in a different manner, it opens up an entirely new perspective for students. What if leadership was more about people pursuing a "purpose" in life, a "purpose" with which they will influence others in its fulfillment?  What if it had more to do with finding an area of strength and naturally influencing others in a positive way when they use that strength?

We all have some strength or gift that enables us to master something and to exercise leadership in a healthy way. Certainly, mankind has perverted this idea of leadership. History is full of leaders who tried to dominate others by force, such as Nero, Stalin, Hitler, and Saddam Hussein. But we cannot let counterfeits of good leadership convince us that leadership is bad or impossible.  In fact, if there is a counterfeit, it generally means there is something genuine that is very valuable.  Leadership is intended to be about serving others in the area of our giftedness.  When we do, we naturally ripple with influence. We don’t even have to try to “lead” others. As we mature, we are to naturally uncover our area of leadership and influence a sum of people. We may not even have a position at the top of a flow chart, but we lead. Because this is a larger segment of the population, it might be helpful to call these people “leaders” with a lower case “l.” They are “leaders”, not “Leaders.” They are everywhere, and we must prepare them to influence their world. This is why I choose to define leadership in this way:

Leadership is using my influence for a worthwhile cause.

In 2000, the Kellogg Foundation published a report on the status of leadership on university campuses in North America. The report included both state and private schools, and was compiled by Dr. Helen and Alexander Astin from UCLA. Their conclusions were intriguing. Let me summarize a few of them here:

1. Every student has the potential to be a leader.
2. Leadership cannot be separated from values.
3. Leadership skills must be taught.
4. In today’s world, every student will need leadership skills.

Interestingly, it seems that I’m not the only one who’s concluded that leadership should not be limited to the people who hold top positions in an organization. More and more researchers agree leadership is a 360 degree proposition. Most people who influence where teams are going, where corporations are going, where non-profits are going—in fact, where nations are going—are not the chief executives of those organizations. We lead up, we lead around and we lead down in organizations. Dee Hock, former CEO of Visa International, was the first person I heard propose this notion, and I believe he’s right on.  Influence happens everywhere and often from the middle of the pack.

This is why I teach that every student who is willing has the potential to lead and influence others. They may never be “Leaders” but they are already “leaders.” For years I have reminded people that sociologists believe the most introverted of people will influence 10,000 others in an average lifetime. In others words, every one of us, even the shy ones, are influencing people around us. My question: what breadth of influence could people have who become intentional about it?

So, let’s embrace our role as influencers. Let’s learn to lead and influence in a manner appropriate with our giftedness and not excuse ourselves because we’ll never be Mother Teresa, or Colin Powell, or Bill Gates. Leadership is for every one of us, to some degree. It’s about becoming the person we were designed to be. It is less about position and more about disposition. It is not so much about superiority but about service in the area of our strengths. It has less to do with a set of behaviors and more to do with a perspective with which we view life.

This Resource Directory profiles 70 higher-education organizations that encourage -- through programs or publications -- one or more dimensions of character development.

American Association for Higher Education (AAHE)
One Dupont Circle, Suite 360
Washington, DC 20036-1110
202.293.6440
http://www.aahe.org

AAHE is an individual membership organization that promotes change and reform in higher education to ensure its effectiveness in a complex, interconnected world. Consisting of more than 9,000 professors, college administrators, students, and individuals concerned about the future of higher education, AAHE recently initiated a Service Learning Project. The project is anchored by an 18-volume series designed to provide resources to faculty wishing to explore community-based learning in and through the academic disciplines. The organization will also be convening a series of meetings to promote service-learning collaboration across the disciplines.

American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)
1307 New York Avenue NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005-4701
202.293.7070
http://www.aascu.org

AASCU promotes a broad understanding of the essential role of public higher education in our society. Among its many programs is the Academic Leadership Institute, which provides professional development opportunities for newly appointed chief academic officers at AASCU-member institutions.

American College Health Association (ACHA)
P.O. Box 28937
Baltimore, MD 21240-8937
410.859.1500
http://www.acha.org

ACHA is the principal advocate and leadership organization for college and university health professionals. The organization provides advocacy, education, and services for its members to enhance their ability to improve the health of all students and the wider campus community.

American College Personnel Association (ACPA)
One Dupont Circle, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036-1110
202.835.2272
http://www.acpa.nche.edu/

ACPA is a professional association that offers student- affairs professionals educational programs, services, and other professional development opportunities to enhance the quality of the learning environment on college and university campuses.

American Council on Education (ACE)
One Dupont Circle, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036-1193
202.939.9300
http://www.acenet.edu

ACE is the nation's principal higher-education association. Dedicated to the belief that equal educational opportunity and a strong higher-education system are essential cornerstones of a democratic society, ACE recently established an initiative to strengthen the role of colleges and universities in promoting civic responsibility among students.

American Medical Association (AMA)
Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse
515 North State Street
Chicago, IL 60610
312.464.4202
http://www.ama-assn.org/special/aos/alcohol1/

In response to the alarming statistics on alcohol use on college campuses, the AMA and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are collaborating on two national efforts. A Matter of Degree: The National Effort to Reduce High-Risk Drinking Among College Students seeks to confront the issues and problems associated with youth and alcohol and to create solutions through environmental changes. Reducing Underage Drinking Through Coalitions brings together 12 broad-based coalitions to reduce alcohol abuse among minors and create healthier communities.

Association for College and University Religious Affairs
Alice Millar Chapel
Northwestern University
1870 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208-1350
847.491.7353
chaplain@nwu.edu

A professional association of chaplains and directors of religious affairs.

Association for Moral Education
http://www.wittenberg.edu/ame

AME was founded in 1976 to provide an interdisciplinary forum for professionals interested in curriculum development and research that links moral theory with educational practice. Through its program of conferences and publications, AME serves as a resource to educators, practitioners, and the public in matters related to moral education and development.

Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE)
Indiana University
618 East Third Street
Bloomington, IN 47405
812.855.6450
http://www.php.ucs.indiana.edu/~appe

APPE is committed to encouraging and developing high-quality interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching within the fields of practical and professional ethics. At its annual meeting, APPE hosts the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl, a competition among college students that focuses on responding adroitly to complex ethical questions and dilemmas.

Association for Religion and Intellectual Life (ARIL)
College of New Rochelle
New Rochelle, NY 10805
914.235.1439
http://www.aril.org

ARIL is a global network of people from various religious traditions who share a commitment to bringing the passions of the heart into closer relationship with the life of the mind. In the year 2000, ARIL is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its magazine, Cross Currents.

Association for Student Judicial Affairs (ASJA)
P.O. Box 2237
College Station, TX 77841-2237
http://www.asja.tamu.edu

ASJA encourges the development and enforcement of standards of conduct for students in an educational endeavor that fosters students' personal and social development. Students must assume a significant role in developing and enforcing such regulations so that they can be better prepared for the responsibilities of citizenship.

Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)
1818 R Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
202.387.3760
http://www.aacu-edu.org

AAC&U is an institutional membership association that works to advance the aims of liberal education. Strengthening the undergraduate curriculum is one of five priority areas the organization will focus on in the coming years.

Association of American Universities (AAU)
1200 New York Avenue NW, Suite 550
Washington, DC 20005
202.408.7500
http://www.tulane.edu/~aau/

The AAU consists of more than 60 universities concerned with undergraduate education and related higher-education policy issues.

Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU)
One Dupont Circle, Suite 650
Washington, DC 20036
202.457.0650
http://www.accunet.org

ACCU is an association of more than 200 colleges and universities in the U.S. interested in advancing the importance and contributions of Catholic higher education. The organization publishes the semi-annual journal Current Issues in Catholic Higher Education.

Association of College and University Housing Officers­International (ACUHO-I)
364 West Lane Avenue, Suite C
Columbus, OH 43201-1062
614.292.0099
http://www.acuho.ohio-state.edu

ACUHO-I provides technical support to college personnel involved in student housing. Its new magazine, Talking Stick, contains reports and programming ideas on timely subjects related to the field of college and university resident halls and student housing.

Association of College Unions­International (ACUI)
One City Centre, Suite 200
120 West Seventh Street
Bloomington, IN 47404
812.855.8550
http://www.acuiweb.org

ACUI brings together college student-union and student activities professionals from nearly 1,000 schools worldwide. It is dedicated to enhancing campus life through programs, services, and useful publications. ACUI currently has a special initiative to integrate civic values into its core programs and activities.

Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB)
One Dupont Circle, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
202.296.8400
http://www.agb.org

AGB's mission is to advance the practice of citizen trusteeship and help ensure the quality and success of the nation's colleges and universities. AGB has developed programs and services that strengthen the partnership between president and governing board, define the responsibilities of governing board members, and provide guidance to regents and trustees.

The BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network
P.O. Box 100430
Denver, CO 80250-0430
303.871.0901
http://www.bacchusgamma.org

The network is an association of college- and university-based peer-education programs that focus on alcohol-abuse prevention and other related student health and safety issues. The network operates on the philosophy that students can play a uniquely effective role, unmatched by professional educators, in encouraging their peers to consider, talk honestly about, and develop responsible habits, attitudes, and lifestyles regarding alcohol and related issues.

The Bonner Scholars Program
10 Mercer Street
Princeton, NJ 08540
609.924.6663
http://www.bonner.org

The foundation provides four-year community-service scholarships to approximately 1,500 students annually (known throughout higher education as "Bonner Scholars"). The scholarship supports those young men and women who have high financial need and a commitment to volunteer service.

Campus Compact
Brown University
Box 1975
Providence, RI 02912
401.863.1119
http://www.compact.org

Campus Compact is a national membership organization of college and university presidents committed to helping students develop the values and skills of citizenship through participating in public and community service.

Campus Crusade for Christ
100 Lake Hart Drive
Orlando, FL 32832
407.826.2000
http://www.ccci.org

Campus Crusade is an interdenominational Christian ministry and student organization that provides information, training, relationships, opportunities, and environments conducive to the spiritual growth of college students.

Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL)
1531 P Street NW, Suite LL
Washington, DC 20005
202.265.1200
http://www.cool2serve.org

COOL, founded in 1984, is a national organization dedicated to the education and empowerment of college students through community service. It aims to mobilize and connect students of all backgrounds to lead a movement that promotes student activism and fosters the civic responsibility necessary to build a just society.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
555 Middlefield Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025
650.566.5100
http://www.carnegiefoundation.org

The foundation is a major national center for research and policy studies about teaching. Its reports and publications have addressed the most serious challenges facing the undergraduate education experience. The foundation is currently engaged in an initiative titled Higher Education and the Development of Moral Character and Civic Responsibility.

The Center for Academic Integrity
Box 90434
Duke University
Durham, NC 27708
919.660.3045
http://www.academicintegrity.org

The center provides a forum to identify, affirm, and promote the values of academic integrity among students. By encouraging and supporting research on factors that affect academic integrity, the center hopes not only to help students and faculty develop curricular models that address issues of ethical choice, but also to make business and government leaders more aware of the impact their decisions can have on the moral development of college students. The center holds an annual conference and is currently developing an Academic Integrity Assessment and Action Guide designed to be used by colleges and universities interested in strengthening their academic integrity systems.

The Center for Campus Organizing (CCO)
165 Friend Street
M/S #1
Boston, MA 02114-2025
617.725.2886
http://www.cco.org

CCO is an educational organization that helps students on college campuses learn the leadership skills necessary for grassroots community organizing. Its mission is to promote the principles and practices of participatory democracy on campuses and within society at large. The center publishes articles, booklets, and a quarterly newsletter highlighting the state of student and campus activism.

The Center for Ethical Leadership
464 12th Avenue, Suite 320
Seattle, WA 98122
206.328.3020
http://www.halcyon.com/cel

The center provides training and education in ethical leadership, civic responsibility, and collaborative problem solving to promote the common good. It has active programs involving youth, neighborhood, religious, corporate, government, nonprofit, and education leaders.

Character Education Partnership (CEP)
918 16th Street NW, Suite 501
Washington, DC 20006
800.988.8081
http://www.character.org

CEP is a nonpartisan coalition of civic organizations, schools, businesses, and individuals dedicated to developing the character of our youth for a more compassionate and responsible society. CEP maintains a national resource center on character education and sponsors conferences, research, and publications.

Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)
1307 New York Avenue NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20005-4701
202.328.5900
http://www.case.org

CASE is an international association of alumni administrators, fund-raisers, public relations managers, publications editors, and government relations officers. CASE believes that institutional advancement officers have a special duty to exemplify and observe the highest standards of personal and professional conduct.

Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU)
329 8th Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
202.546.8713
http://www.cccu.org

The council focuses on helping Christian colleges and universities better fulfill their mission to effectively integrate biblical faith, scholarship, and service. Since 1994, the council has been involved in the comprehensive assessment project Taking Values Seriously, which examines the values of students as they enter CCCU institutions, as they graduate, and after they have been out of college for two years.

Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)
One Dupont Circle, Suite 510
Washington, DC 20036-1135
202.955.6126
http://www.chea.org

A membership organization of more than 3,000 colleges and universities, CHEA serves as a national voice for accreditation through voluntary self-regulation and as a policy center and clearinghouse for the higher education community.

Council of Independent Colleges (CIC)
One Dupont Circle, Suite 320
Washington, DC 20036-1110
202.466.7230
http://www.cic.edu

CIC is an association of more than 460 independent colleges and universities that work together to enhance educational programs and increase the visibility of private higher education's contributions to society.

The Education as Transformation Project
Wellesley College
The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life
Wellesley, MA 02181
781.283.2659
http://www.wellesley.edu/RelLife/project

The project is a multiyear organizing effort begun in 1996 to initiate a dialog about religious pluralism and spirituality in higher education. It is working with more than 250 colleges and universities to develop new models and strategies to support religious diversity on campus and explore how spirituality can serve as a web that interconnects educational initiatives such as college student values, moral and ethical development, experiential education, health, and community service.

Ethics Resources Center (ERC)
1747 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20006
202.737.2258
http://www.lmco.com/erc

The mission of the ERC is to enhance understanding of business ethics through dialog, research, publications, and collaboration. In 1992, ERC launched its Campaign for Character, an initiative that includes the dissemination of high-quality teacher training seminars and video-based learning programs on character education.

The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention
Education Development Center, Inc.
55 Chapel Street
Newton, MA 02158-1060
800.676.1730
http://www.edc.org/hec

The center provides support to colleges and universities to develop strategies for changing campus culture related to alcohol abuse and drug use. The center offers technical assistance, develops publications, and conducts training workshops on college campuses throughout North America.

Higher Education Research Institute (HERI)
University of California, Los Angeles
3005 Moore Hall, Box 951521
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1521
310.825.1925
http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri

HERI is one of the leading centers for higher-education research and evaluation in North America, with a special emphasis on how the college experience affects the cognitive and ethical development of students. HERI conducts an annual survey of first-year college students. The results are published each year in The American Freshman, which examines the norms held by first-year college students. The institute is currently researching the cognitive, behavioral, and affective outcomes among college students who participate in service-learning courses. This study will also examine the effects of service learning on faculty.

Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU)
8415 Datapoint Drive, Suite 400
San Antonio, TX 78229
210.692.3805
http://www.hacu2000.org

HACU is a national association of more than 200 colleges and universities that collectively enroll two-thirds of all Hispanics in higher education. HACU has initiated a number of educational projects to address and improve Hispanic graduation rates, including linkages between colleges and universities and precollegiate school systems.

Institute for Global Ethics
11 Main Street
P.O. Box 563
Camden, ME 04843
207.236.6658
http://www.globalethics.org

The institute is an independent, nonpartisan organization dedicated to elevating public awareness and promoting the discussion of ethics in a global context. As an international, membership-based think tank, the institute focuses on ethical activities in education, the corporate sector, and public policy.

Institute on College Student Values
Florida State University
313 Westcott Building
Tallahassee, FL 32306-1340
850.644.5590
http://www.fsu.edu/~staffair/institute

The institute conducts an annual conference for student-affairs professionals, educators, campus ministers, and other individuals interested in character development during the college years. It is designed to be a think tank for those who wish to explore more effective ways to promote the ethical development of college students.

Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI)
P.O. Box 443
Wilmington, DE 19807
800.526.7022
http://www.isi.org

ISI is an educational organization whose purpose is to convey to successive generations of college youth a better understanding of the values and institutions that sustain a free society. To accomplish this goal, ISI has established an integrated program of lectures, conferences, publications, and fellowships that reaches thousands of college students and faculty across the country.

Josephson Institute of Ethics
4640 Admiralty Way
Suite 1001
Marina del Rey, CA 90292-6610
310.306.1868
http://www.jiethics.org

The mission of the institute is to improve the ethical quality of society by advocating principled reasoning and ethical decision-making. One of the institute's programs is the Character Counts! Coalition, a wide-ranging alliance of schools, youth organizations, and civic groups that supports the ethical development of young people through programming that focuses on practicing the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.

The Kenan Ethics Program
Duke University
Box 90432
102 West Duke Building
Durham, NC 27708
919.660.3033
http://www.kenan.ethics.duke.edu

The program supports the study and teaching of ethics and promotes moral reflection and commitment in personal, professional, community, and civic life. It encourages moral inquiry across intellectual disciplines and professions, within the context of campus life, as well as across interdependent local, national, and global communities. The program sponsors the annual conference Moral Education in a Diverse Society.

Kettering Foundation
200 Commons Road
Dayton, OH 45459
513.434.7300
http://www.kettering.org

The foundation is rooted in the American tradition of "inventive research," embodied by its founder, Charles F. Kettering, holder of more than 200 patents and best known for his invention of the automotive self-starter. Today, the foundation conducts research and publishes educational and community resources to help citizens act responsibly and effectively on the challenges facing our society. The foundation recently developed and widely disseminated civic education study guides and activities for use in college and university classrooms.

LeaderShape
1801 Fox Drive
Suite 101
Champaign, IL 61820
217.351.6200
http://www.leadershape.org

The mission of LeaderShape is to offer the highest quality, state-of-the-art leadership programs that improve society by inspiring, developing, and supporting college student leaders. The W. K. Kellogg Foundation recently named The LeaderShape Institute an "exemplary program."

Medical Institute for Sexual Health
P.O. Box 162306
Austin, TX 78716-2306
800.892.9484
http://www.medinstitute.org

Driven by medical, educational, and other scientific data, the institute informs, educates, and provides solutions to medical professionals, educators, government officials, parents, and the media about problems associated with sexually transmitted disease and nonmarital pregnancy. It recently published an information packet titled National Guidelines for Sexuality and Character Education.

National Academic Advising Association (NACADA)
Kansas State University
2323 Anderson Avenue, Suite 225
Manhattan, KS 66502-2912
785.532.5717
http://www.ksu.edu/nacada

NACADA is an association of professional advisors, faculty, administrators, and students who do academic advising or work to promote the highest quality academic advising on college and university campuses. The organization has a core values statement that provides a framework against which those who advise can measure their own performance. Among its many educational materials, NACADA recently published a monograph titled First-Year Student Academic Advising.

National Association for Campus Activities (NACA)
13 Harbison Way
Columbia, SC 29212-3401
803.732.6222
http://www.naca.org

NACA is a member-based association of colleges and universities, talent firms, artists and performers, student programmers and leaders, and professional campus activities staff. It serves as a clearinghouse and catalyst for information, ideas, and campus-based leadership opportunities.

National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC)
1631 Prince Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-2818
703.836.2222
http://www.nacac.com

NACAC is an association of more than 6,600 members who work with students as they make the transition from high school to postsecondary education. The school counselor and the college admission counselor are most often the primary sources of information about the transition process. NACAC has established a Statement of Principles of Good Practice, the code of ethical conduct for all individuals and institutions involved in the admission process.

National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO)
8701 Georgia Avenue, Suite 200
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301.650.2440
http://www.nafeo.org

NAFEO is a national umbrella and advocacy organization for 118 of the nation's historically and predominantly Black colleges and universities. Its mission is to articulate the need for a system of higher education in which race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and previous educational attainment levels are not determinants of either the quantity or quality of higher education.

National Association for Women in Education (NAWE)
1325 18th Street, NW, Suite 210
Washington, DC 20036
202.659.9330
http://www.nawe.org

NAWE addresses issues related to the interests, scholarship, and advancement of women educators and college students. The organization holds an annual conference designed for women who aspire to or who are currently in leadership roles on campus and in their community.

National Association of College and University Chaplains (NACUC)
c/o Office of the Chaplain
Williamette University
900 State Street
Salem, OR 97301

NACUC is a multifaith professional organization concerned with the religious life of the entire college or university. The organization publishes NACUC NEWS, a publication of articles, reviews, and news, and Ailanthus, a semiannual journal of professional and scholarly papers related to religious life in higher education. NACUC also convenes an annual meeting.

National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU)
1025 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036-5405
202.785.8866
http://www.naicu.edu

Made up of more than 900 private colleges and universities, NAICU's primary objective is to inform the public and government about the accomplishments and concerns of independent higher education.

National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC)
1307 New York Avenue NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005-4701
202.478.6040
http://www.nasulgc.org

NASULGC is an association of 202 land-grant colleges and universities that supports high-quality public education. The organization is initiating a public education campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption by college students.

National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)
1875 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 418
Washington, DC 20009
202.265.7500
http://www.naspa.org

With more than 8,000 individual members and more than 1,175 member campuses, NASPA provides support to senior student-affairs officers and administrators. One of its most recent initiatives is to develop a set of principles to promote student learning that should guide the cooperation and collaboration of all academic and student-affairs professionals on a college or university campus.

National Campus Ministry Association
2 Ocean Dune Circle
Palm Coast, FL 32137
904.446.8066

An association of campus ministry professionals that provides networking and resources for personal and professional growth to those who are engaged in ministry in higher education.

National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs (NCLP)
1135 Stamp Student Union
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742-7174
301.314.7164
http://www.inform.umd.edu/CampusInfo/Departments/OCP/NCLP

NCLP provides a central clearinghouse of leadership materials, resources, and assistance to leadership educators. Its members receive publications, assistance, consultation, access to leadership resource files, and networking opportunities with other professionals engaged in leadership education.

National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC)
Radford University
Radford, VA 24142
540.831.6100
http://www.runet.edu/~nchc

NCHC seeks to enhance the academic, cultural, and social opportunities available to exceptionally motivated undergraduate students. Specifically, its purposes are to stimulate development of new honors programs in colleges and universities, promote an awareness of honors learning within higher education, and help honors programs improve intellectual discourse on campuses in ways advantageous to all students and faculty.

National Hillel/The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
1640 Rhode Island Avenue NW
Washington DC 20036
202.857.6560
http://www.hillel.org

Hillel cooperates with a vast array of Jewish organizations to bring to campuses across the U.S. the broadest range of social, educational, cultural, and religious programs for Jewish students of all backgrounds.

National Interfraternity Conference (NIC)
3901 West 86th Street, Suite 390
Indianapolis, IN 46268-1791
317.872.1112
http://www.nicindy.org

A federation of 67 men's national and international fraternities, NIC provides a variety of services to support and enhance the fraternity movement throughout the U.S. and Canada. It offers educational materials on "Alcohol-Free Housing," "Adopt an Elementary School," "Leadership Development," and "The Crime of Hazing."

National Panhellenic Conference
3901 W. 86th Street, Suite 380
Indianapolis, IN 46268
317.872.3185
http://www.greeklife.org/npc

The mission of the National

Spirituality in Higher Education:
A National Study of College Students’ Search for Meaning and Purpose

What is the level and intensity of spiritual experiences among today’s college students? How are spiritual searching and behavior changing on campus? And what does this mean for higher education institutions and students?

These important questions are being investigated through a multi-year research project that assesses and tracks the spiritual growth of students during their undergraduate college years.

Following a pilot survey conducted in 2003, a comprehensive questionnaire was administered to 112,000 entering freshmen at a nationally representative sample of colleges and universities in Fall 2004. We followed up a subsample of 15,000 of these students in Spring 2007 to chart changes in their spiritual development.

In order to understand the impact of faculty on students' spiritual development, a national survey of 65,000 faculty members from participating universities was also conducted during the 2004-05 academic year.

The study is designed to:

	Provide a framework for colleges seeking to expand opportunities for students to explore spirituality;
	Bring to light the beliefs, behaviors and attitudes of American college students; and
	Stimulate discussion of curricular and other transformations in higher education.

The study is being conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) housed in the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at UCLA, and made possible through a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

A National Advisory Board is providing general oversight for the entire project, and a Technical Advisory Panel is assisting in the development of the survey instruments.

Leadership Development Websites

If you have a question about leadership development, chances are you can find the answer at one of these sites that specialize in leadership issues. If you know of a Web site that should be included on this list, please send an email to webmaster@leadershiponlinewkkf.org.

Name of Organization, URL

Advocacy Institute Leadership Development Program, www.advocacy.org/lfp.htm

African American Leadership Institute, The James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, at the University of Maryland, College Park, www.academy.umd.edu/scholarship/AALI

American Leadership Forum, www.alfsv.org

Asian Pacific American Women's Leadership Institute, www.apawli.org

Brexgata Academy, Belgium, www.brexgatacademy.org

Bruin Leaders Project, at the University of California, Los Angeles, www.bruinleaders.ucla.edu/newblp.html

Burns Academy, www.academy.umd.edu

Carolina Leadership Development, www.unc.edu/depts/lead

Center for Community Change, www.communitychange.org

Center for Creative Leadership, www.ccl.org

Center for Emerging Leadership, www.emergingleadership.com/

Center for Ethical Leadership, www.ethicalleadership.org

Center for Innovative Leadership, www.cfil.com

Center for Leadership Studies, www.binghamton.edu/cls

Center for Rural Community Revitalization and Development, www.ianr.unl.edu/rural/index.htm

Center for Student Leadership at Pace University, www.pace.edu/em/studevnyc/Center_for_Student_Leadership.htm

Center for Student Leadership, Santa Clara University, www.scu.edu/csl

Center for Visionary Leadership, www.visionarylead.org

Christian Leadership Academy, www.cl-academy.com

Christian Leadership Ministries (faculty ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ), www.clm.org 

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, www.chci.org

Congressional Youth Leadership Council, www.cylc.org

Coro Southern California Neighborhood Leadership Program, www.coro.org

Division of Indian Work Youth Leadership Development Program, www.gmcc.org/diw/diw%20programs%20main.html

Dynamics of Leadership, www.dynamicleadership.com

EmergingLeader.com, www.EmergingLeader.com

Ethics in Action, www.ethicsinaction.com

Future Leaders of America, no national site, just state sites

Grassroots Leadership, grass-roots.org

Haas Center for Public Service, Stanford University, haas-fmp.stanford.edu/40default.htm

Hagberg Consulting Group, www.leadership-development.com

Heartland Center for Leadership Development, www.heartlandcenter.info

Highlander Research and Education Center, www.hrec.org

Hugh O'Brian Leadership Foundation, www.hoby.org

Innovation Associates, www.innovationassociates.com

Institute for Educational Leadership, www.iel.org

International Leadership Associates, www.I-lead.com

J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership and Community Development, www.fanning.uga.edu

Jepson School of Leadership Studies, oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/leadership

JFK School of Government, Harvard, www.ksg.harvard.edu

John Ben Shepperd Public Leadership Institute, www.utpb.edu/JBS/mainpage.htm

King's College, www.tkc.edu

LeaderShape, Inc., www.leadershape.org

Leadership Edge, Inc., www.lead-edge.com

Leadership Institute of Seattle, www.lios.org

Leadership Solutions, www.leadsolutions.com

Leadership Strategies, www.leaderx.com

Leadership U., www.leaderu.com

Master of Arts in Leadership, at Bellevue University, web2.bellevue.edu/Programs/Degrees/mldr.html

Miami's Leadership Commitment (MLC) at Miami University, Ohio, www.muohio.edu/mlc

Move the Mountain Leadership Center, www.movethemountain.org

National Association for Community Leadership, www.communityleadership.org

National Community Building Network, www.ncbn.org

National Hispana Leadership Institute, www.nhli.org

National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs, www.nclp.umd.edu 

National Outdoor Leadership School, www.nols.edu

National Youth Leadership Forum, www.nylf.org

North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, www.northsachamber.com/labProgram.htm

O'Daniel Leadership Academy, at the University of Southern Indiana, www.usi.edu/leadership/index.asp

Ohio Leadership Institute, www.ohioleader.com

Oregon Council for Hispanic Advancement, www.ocha-nw.org

Oregon Student Leadership Development Center, www.oregonsldc.com/foundation.htm

Outward Bound National Headquarters, www.outwardbound.com

Peer Leadership Council, at the University of Maryland, College Park, www.inform.umd.edu/CampusInfo/Departmetns/OCP/PLC

Pioneer Leadership Program at the University of Denver, www.du.edu/plp

Points of Light Foundation, www.pointsoflight.org

Prudential Youth Leadership Institute, www.pyli.org

Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, www.greenleaf.org

Rural Development Network, www.ruraldevelopment.org

St. Norburt College Leadership and Service, www.snc.edu/lsi

Stephen Covey, www.franklincovey.com

Sterling College, www.servantleadership.org

Student Leadership Development at Asbury College, www.asbury.edu/admin/studend_dev/lead

Student Leadership Institute, at the University of Colorado at Boulder, www.slinstitute.org

Summer Latino Leadership Institute, www.ma.iup.edu/Pueblo/highschool_roundtable/institute.html

United States Junior Chamber of Commerce, www.usjaycees.org

University of Buffalo Leadership Development Center, www.leadership.buffalo.edu/index.shtml

University of Missouri-Columbia, Leadership Development Program, web.missouri.edu/~stulife/leadership

University of Wisconsin Madison, Student Leadership Program, soo.studentorg.wisc.edu/SLP

Weissman Center for Leadership at Mount Holyoke College, www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/programs/wcl

White Stag Leadership Development Program, www.whitestag.org

Women Leaders Online, wlo.org

Women of the World, www.wownow.org

Women Unlimited, www.women-unlimited.com

YWCA of the USA, www.ywca.org

The Power of Negative Thinking

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Wither Blogging? Not Yet, But Perhaps Soon

In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop

What the New York Times “death by blogging” story got right.

Related articles and links |  1 of 2

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As weblogs proliferated earlier this decade, Andy Warhol's famous aphorism was modified to read, "In the future, everyone will be famous to 15 people." Now it looks like Warhol was right after all: Thanks to widespread blog burnout, everyone will be famous to 15 people for 15 minutes.

Tech researcher Gartner Inc. reported earlier this year that 200 million people have given up blogging, more than twice as many as are active.

"A lot of people have been in and out of this thing," Gartner analyst Daryl Plummer told reporters. "Everyone thinks they have something to say, until they're put on stage and asked to say it." Given the average lifespan of a blogger and the current growth rate of blogs, Gartner says blogging has probably peaked.

Which isn't to say that blogging is dead. Quite the opposite. Blog aggregator Technorati estimates that 3 million new blogs are launched every month. The site's tongue-in-cheek slogan: "Zillions of photos, videos, blogs, and more. Some of them have to be good."

Actually, some Christian blogs are very good. What tired bloggers are increasingly discovering, however, is that it's not necessarily the quality of their blog posts that matter. It's matching their quality with frequency.

As conservative political blogger Glenn Reynolds told Wired News in 2004, "I know that if I go more than about five or six hours without posting or telling people that I'm not going to be blogging for the rest of the day, [I'll get worried messages asking,] 'You haven't posted anything in five or six hours. Are you okay?'"

"Good bloggers work like dogs," says Michael Parsons, editor of the tech site CNet.co.uk. "You can't expect readers to show up unless you show up. And the Internet never closes. … Every successful blogger I've come across is the same. Eat, sleep, and drink the work. No time out; no holidays."

That's not a recipe for healthy living, especially if you're working a day job that's not paying you to blog. When Catholic blogger Amy Welborn shut down Open Book in August to focus on writing books, she wrote: "I want to do good, and I want to do lasting good — the kind of good that people carry around, share, put on their bookshelves and reflect on — rather than the kind of good that sparks a momentary flash until we surf to the next website and the next and the next."

Mark D. Roberts, one of the most prominent "pastor bloggers," went the other direction, announcing that he was leaving his pulpit at Irvine (Ca.) Presbyterian Church to become senior director at the Laity Lodge retreat in Texas. "My blog now becomes a part of my primary work," he told his congregation.

The secret of some of the top God blogs is that they're team efforts. But many bloggers still feel like they have to have their own site to be "contributing to the conversation." The blogosphere, which was supposed to be a great democratizer, has made us all perennial candidates, demanding that we weigh in on every news item, no matter how mundane or overexposed. (The blog world risks becoming one giant midrash on The New York Times front page.)

But some of us can't help ourselves. Nearly as common as the abandoned blog is the "final comments before I reclaim my life" post. Followed by "an update to something I said in my final comments." And, "Well, I couldn't let this story go by." And on it goes.

One of the best resignation letters came from Alan Jacobs in Books & Culture. "Right now, and for the foreseeable future, the blogosphere is the friend of information but the enemy of thought," he wrote in "Goodbye, Blog" (May/June 2006). A year later, in addition to writing a regular column for Books & Culture, the Wheaton College literature professor blogs thoughtfully at two different sites.

10 Innovative Blog Business Models

Case Studies, Other Income Streams 9 comments

Skellie wrote this post. For more advanced blogging tips and strategies, visit her blog, Skelliewag.

When people think about making money with a blog, they tend to think about things like AdSense and affiliate links. You write good content, people come to your blog, people click on links, and you make a bit of money. How much money you make depends on how successfully you can multiply this process.

However, for some entrepreneurs this method of monetizing a blog is just one part of a larger business model that is much more lucrative than advertising on its own.

In this post I want to highlight 10 innovative and successful blog business models that do more than sell ad space or clicks. Is there room for one of these business models on your own blog?

365 Nights of Sex: Can It Strengthen a Marriage?

If you decided to have sex every day, would your relationship benefit?

Two long-married couples decided to find out. When lovemaking fell off their respective "to-do" lists, they ditched the sweats, bought sex toys and books, stepped up exercise, lit candles, and took trips. Then they chronicled their "sexperiment" in two recently released books, Just Do It: How One Couple Turned Off the TV and Turned On Their Sex Lives for 101 Days (No Excuses!) by Doug Brown and 365 Nights: A Memoir of Intimacy by Charla Muller with Betsy Thorpe.

But will daily sex really help a relationship that's hit a rough patch? Some experts say yes; others aren't so sure. As for the two couples who tried it, the Browns and the Mullers, both say the experiment strengthened their marriages in -- and out -- of the bedroom.

Charla Muller had been married for eight years to her husband, Brad, when she embarked on what she calls "the year of the gift" as a way to celebrate her husband's 40th birthday Rather than fixing anything wrong in her marriage, she writes that frequent sex made her happier, less angry, and less stressed.

Doug Brown's wife, Annie Brown, initiated the offer of daily sex after hearing about sexless marriages on Oprah. He had a similar revelation after they started having daily sex. A feature writer for The Denver Post, Brown writes of releasing "an avalanche of flesh pleasures upon our relationship."

"There's a special sense of being desired that only comes from sex," he tells WebMD. "You can be good at your job or at sports, but the daily confirmation you get through sex is a super feeling."

(Is this something you’d ever try? Why or why not? Talk with others on WebMD's Sexuality: Friends Talking message board.)

Reversing the Downward Sex Spiral

According to the National Opinion Research Center, the average American couple reports having sex 66 times a year. Newsweek has noted that 15% to 20% of couples have sex less than 10 times a year, which is defined as a "sexless" marriage.

Familiarity, advancing age, work pressures, the challenges of raising a family, and household responsibilities all conspire against regular sex among many otherwise loving couples who feel too harried to get physical.

When Doug Brown and his wife began their experiment in 2006, they were juggling two kids and two jobs. Married for 14 years, they averaged sex three times a month. And he admits he had performance anxiety.

"I felt I had to be a porn star or an Olympic gold medalist. That melted away with [daily] sex. We learned so much about each other. Sex became much more playful and that translated into a more playful union. We regained an electricity that wasn't always there before."

Reversing the Downward Sex Spiral continued...

They also lost their inhibitions and embarrassment about the subject and gained confidence. "Now we can talk about anything."

The Mullers had a similar experience.

"I didn't realize how much not being [regularly] intimate stressed our relationship," Charla Muller tells WebMD. "I was a bit of a dodger, because I felt pressure to make it fabulous, because who knows when it will come around again? Now I'm not willing to give it up again."

She says an unexpected benefit of daily sex was the kindness it required of the couple.

"I wasn't expecting that. I thought we would only have to be really nice after hours. But we both had to bring our best game to the marriage every day. That was an important part of what went on behind closed doors."

The Science of Frequent Sex

Helen Fisher, PhD, a research professor and member of the Center for Human Evolutionary Studies in the department of anthropology at Rutgers University, says couples trigger sex drive, romance, and attachment -- along with their attendant hormones, testosterone, dopamine, and oxytocin -- with regular sexual activity.

Fisher is an advocate of frequent sex.

She says that in some hunting and gathering societies, such as the Kung bushmen in the southern Kalahari, couples often make love every day for relaxation. Unlike our time-pressed culture, there is more leisure time.

"Sex is designed to make you feel good for a reason," says Fisher. "With someone you love, I recommend it for many reasons: It's good for your health and good for your relationship. It's good for respiration, muscles, and bladder control. It's a fine antidepressant, and it can renew your energy."

Andrea M. Macari, PhD, a clinical psychologist who specializes in sex therapy in Great Neck, N.Y., says the theories presented in the two books reflect sex therapy literature.

"Regular sex actually increases sexual desire in the couple," she tells WebMD. "In other words, the more you 'do it,' the more the individuals will seek it. You develop a desire that wasn't normally there. The act itself is reinforcing."

But she points out that sex doesn't have to be "mind-blowing."

"I encourage couples to have 'good enough' sex. This sets realistic expectations and often lowers anxiety. Sex is like pizza: even when it's bad, it's usually still pretty good. On a scale from one to 10, good-enough sex is between 5 and 7."

Doug Brown admits that he and his wife were tired on many nights. But, he says, "Once we started, we got in the mood. We were never sorry we did it."

Scheduled Sex: Good for Your Relationship?

"The two married couples who document having sex on a daily basis are great role models for other couples who want to take their relationship to a higher level of intimacy," says Ava Cadell, PhD, founder and president of Loveology University and a certified sex counselor.

Scheduled Sex: Good for Your Relationship? continued...

Cadell's six-week course called "Passion Power" includes a commitment form, a questionnaire, and daily sensual exercises to help couples deepen their bond. "When a couple makes a commitment to explore and expand their sexuality together, they become 100% fluent in the art of love, intimacy, and sexuality. They can stay in lust forever."

But some experts think scheduled sex can backfire.

Pepper Schwartz, PhD, a professor of sociology at the University of Washington in Seattle, says, "Whether or not it works, most couples can't do it. Those who do maintain that kind of schedule have either a sexual appetite of Olympian proportions or have at least one partner who finds that as their most important way of staying connected and the other partner has tremendous grace and goodwill. There are no couples I have ever met that are in that good a mood, or have that kind of energy every day. So this is a model that will appeal to few and be practiced by even fewer."

But, she concedes, staying sexually and emotionally connected on a frequent basis has merit.

"Sexual attraction and sexual arousal bring to bear two very important hormones, dopamine and oxytocin, both of which create bliss and bonding. Even if the lovemaking session started out with only a modest amount of interest, once arousal starts, these hormones create attachment, pleasure, and intimacy. So while everyday sex isn't necessary, frequent sex is a great bonus and even an essential part of most couple's commitment and happiness with one another."

Stress management expert Debbie Mandel, MA, thinks such sex might be a bit "gimmicky" and could lead to dissatisfaction.

"In many cases, abstinence makes the heart grow fonder. You don't have to abstain for a long period of time -- a few days off creates anticipation and eagerness. You might love steak, but having it every night diminishes the gustatory pleasure. Habituate yourself to regular sex, but don't ever let love become a routine, a robotic obligatory habit."

Doug Brown disagrees. He says setting up a period of time -- be it a long weekend, a week, or a month -- is a way to jump-start a sagging sexual relationship. "It should be possible for any couple to do it for a week and for it not to be a chore. It's free and it's fun. Why not plan it and take advantage of it? Anticipation is a big part of sex."

Having sex every day may be unrealistic for most couples, but if you and your partner want to ramp up your sex life, experts offer the following tips for success:

Increase in increments. Muller recommends couples start by doubling their frequency. Then doubling it again in six months.

Re-examine your sex life -- often. Though they now average sex three times a week, Doug Brown says his wife recently told him they need a "tune-up," or a mini-marathon of sex.

Scheduled Sex: Good for Your Relationship? continued...

Act on your desires. "Whenever you have the urge, says Macari, head straight for the bedroom. The more time [that elapses] between having the idea and following up and you'll lose motivation."

Fake it till you make it. Several experts agree: Even if you aren't in the mood, once you begin, you'll enjoy sex.

How Many Web Services Can One Person Use?

Watching Out for Loaded Words

Via eye and ear, words beyond numbering zip into the mind and flash a dizzy variety of meaning into the mysterious circuits of knowing. A great many of them bring along not only their meanings but some extra freight—a load of judgment or bias that plays upon the emotions instead of lighting up the understanding. These words deserve careful handling—and minding. They are loaded.

Such words babble up in all corners of society, wherever anybody is ax-grinding, arm-twisting, backscratching, sweet-talking. Political blather leans sharply to words (peace, prosperity) whose moving powers outweigh exact meanings. Merchandising depends on adjectives (new, improved) that must be continually recharged with notions that entice people to buy. In casual conversation, emotional stuffing is lent to words by inflection and gesture: the innocent phrase, "Thanks a lot," is frequently a vehicle for heaping servings of irritation. Traffic in opinion-heavy language is universal simply because most people, as C.S. Lewis puts it, are "more anxious to express their approval and disapproval of things than to describe them."

The trouble with loaded words is that they tend to short-circuit thought. While they may describe something, they simultaneously try to seduce the mind into accepting a prefabricated opinion about the something described. The effect of one laden term was incidentally measured in a recent survey of public attitudes by the Federal Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. The survey found that many more Americans favor governmental help for the poor when the programs are called "aid to the needy" than when they are labeled "public welfare." And that does not mean merely that some citizens prefer H/2O to water. In fact, the finding spotlights the direct influence of the antipathy that has accumulated around the benign word welfare.

Every word hauls some basic cargo or else can be shrugged aside as vacant sound. Indeed, almost any word can, in some use, take on that extra baggage of bias or sentiment that makes for the truly manipulative word. Even the pronoun it becomes one when employed to report, say, that somebody has what it takes. So does the preposition in when used to establish, perhaps, that zucchini quiche is in this year: used just so, in all but sweats with class bias. The emotion-heavy words that are easiest to spot are epithets and endearments: blockhead, scumbum, heel, sweetheart, darling, great human being and the like. All such terms are so full of prejudice and sentiment that S.I. Hayakawa, a semanticist before he became California's U.S. Senator, calls them "snarl-words and purr-words."

Not all artfully biased terms have been honored with formal labels. Word loading, after all, is not a recognized scholarly discipline, merely a folk art. Propagandists and advertising copywriters may turn it into a polished low art, but it is usually practiced—and witnessed—without a great deal of deliberation. The typical person, as Hayakawa says in Language in Thought and Action, "takes words as much for granted as the air."

Actually, it does not take much special skill to add emotional baggage to a word. Almost any noun can be infused with skepticism and doubt through the use of the word socalled. Thus a friend in disfavor can become a so-called friend, and similarly the nation's leaders can become so-called leaders. Many other words can be handily tilted by shortening, by prefixes and suffixes, by the reduction of formal to familiar forms. The word politician, which may carry enough downbeat connotation for most tastes, can be given additional unsavoriness by truncation: pol. By prefacing liberal and conservative with ultra or arch, both labels can be saddled with suggestions of inflexible fanaticism. To speak of a pacifist or peacemaker as a peacenik is, through a single syllable, to smear someone with the suspicion that he has alien loyalties. The antifeminist who wishes for his (or her) prejudice to go piggyback on his (or her) language will tend to speak not of feminists but of fern-libbers. People with only limited commitments to environmental preservation will tend similarly to allude not to environmentalists but to eco-freaks.

Words can be impregnated with feeling by oversimplification. People who oppose all abortions distort the position of those favoring freedom of private choice by calling them proabortion. And many a progressive or idealist has experienced the perplexity of defending himself against one of the most peculiar of all disparaging terms, do-gooder. By usage in special contexts, the most improbable words can be infused with extraneous meaning. To speak of the "truly needy" as the Administration habitually does is gradually to plant the notion that the unmodified needy are falsely so. Movie Critic Vincent Canby has noticed that the 'word film has become imbued with a good deal of snootiness that is not to be found in the word movie. Moderate is highly susceptible to coloring in many different ways, always by the fervid partisans of some cause: Adlai Stevenson, once accused of being too moderate on civil rights, wondered whether anyone wished him to be, instead, immoderate.

The use of emotional vocabularies is not invariably a dubious practice. In the first place, words do not always get loaded by sinister design or even deliberately. In the second, that sort of language is not exploited only for mischievous ends. The American verities feature words—liberty, equality—that, on top of their formal definitions, are verily packed with the sentiments that cement U.S. society. The affectionate banalities of friendship and neighborliness similarly facilitate the human ties that bind and support. The moving vocabularies of patriotism and friendship are also subject to misuse, of course, but such derelictions are usually easy to recognize as demagoguery or hypocrisy.

The abuse and careless use of language have been going on for a long time; witness the stern biblical warnings such as the one in Matthew 12: 36: "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." Yet the risks of biased words to the unwary must be greater today, in an epoch of propagandizing amplified by mass communications. "Never," Aldous Huxley said, "have misused words—those hideously efficient tools of all the tyrants, warmongers, persecutors and heresy hunters—been so widely and disastrously influential." In the two decades since that warning, the practice of bamboozlement has, if anything, increased. The appropriate response is not a hopeless effort to cleanse the world of seductive words. Simple awareness of how frequently and variously they are loaded reduces the chances that one will fall out of touch with so-called reality. —By Frank Trippett

Capturing the Moment (and More) via Cellphone Video

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STILL keeping in touch with friends by texting? How old-fashioned. Some early adopters of technology are now using their mobile phones to send not typed words or photographs, but live video broadcasts. They’re streaming scenes from their daily lives — like trips to the mall, weddings, a new puppy’s antics or even a breaking news story that they happen upon.

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Gary Scott/KCRW

At KCRW radio in Santa Monica, Calif., Frances Anderton, a producer, left, uses a cellphone to shoot video of Warren Olney, center, a radio host, and David Corn, an editor at Mother Jones. The feed goes to KCRW’s Web site.

“People have moved on from texting,” said Carla Thompson, senior analyst at the Guidewire Group, a marketing research firm in San Francisco. “Just typing in what you are doing is no longer enough. That’s why the field of live video streaming is burgeoning.”

People want to share visceral experiences immediately, Ms. Thompson said. But many cellphones, including the iPhone, do not yet permit live streaming, and many that do are not cheap — including the high-end Nokia N series of smartphones, for example, which can cost from about $400 to $895. Users whose mobile phone plans don’t include unlimited data streaming for Internet services will have to add the coverage, typically for about $15 to $20 a month.

Once they have the right phones and plans, users can aim their built-in cameras, press a few buttons and, with the right software, be broadcasting within seconds. Their videos can be seen on blogs, on social networking sites like Facebook or, among other places, on the Web sites of companies that provide the software and services for streaming, like Kyte (www.kyte.com) or Qik (qik.com).

“You can record whatever’s happening around you and send it back to wherever you’ve embedded your channel,” Ms. Thompson said. “You don’t have to set up a camera — it’s really instant.”

Viewers can respond immediately to videos, typing messages on their keyboards, for instance, and sending them along to a live session. The typed chat appears instantly at the bottom of viewers’ screens.

The relatively simple technology, which requires no television cameras or satellite links, has much potential, Ms. Thompson said, although the quality will vary when users stream live video, depending on the available bandwidth from the provider.

Still, the technology is appealing and easy to use, she said: “There’s no learning curve. People can pick it up right away.”

With Qik, people can use one of 40 or so Nokias, or some phones with the Windows mobile operating system, including the Motorola Q, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, the AT&T Tilt, the HTC Touch Dual and the Samsung Blackjack II.

Representative John Culberson, Republican of Texas, pairs video streaming with Twitter, the microblogging system that lets him broadcast messages of up to 140 characters to people in his network. He notifies his 3,000 or so Twitter followers when he is about to stream a video with his Nokia N95, so they can watch it live or later — at, for instance, Qik.

“I can talk directly to my constituents in real time without any filter,” Mr. Culberson said.

KCRW, the National Public Radio affiliate in Santa Monica, Calif., decided several months ago to try streaming video of live events from cellphones to its Web site. Anil Dewan, director of new media, said the station first used standard video camera-based footage. “The technology got in the way,” he said. “It didn’t capture the energy we wanted in a live event.”

Instead, the station made a relatively small investment, Mr. Dewan said: three Nokia N95 phones and three plans with AT&T allowing unlimited access to the company’s 3G network. The station signed up with Kyte and sent phones and staff members to the Democratic and Republican conventions to capture events.

“It’s been a tremendous success,” said Mr. Dewan, with more than 124,000 views of 67 convention clips.

“It’s a small, nimble technology,” he said of the streaming process. “You can record and upload quickly to our Web site using Kyte. The content is fed straight from cellphones to the Web site. No one has to encode or edit it.”

Daniel Graf, the chief executive of Kyte in San Francisco, said it allows viewers to respond not only with text but also with audio or video comments.

KCRW is using Kyte’s services on a trial basis, he said. In the future, commercial users will pay a flat fee based either on traffic or on a share of revenue; individuals are not charged for private use of the service.

Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, a Web news site, bought a Nokia N95 after seeing other people stream video from smartphones. He signed up with Qik, and particularly likes the interactive chat feature.

“It gives every viewer a chance for feedback,” he said.

Mr. Rose says he thinks the prospects for cellphone streaming are promising.

“I have a whole group of friends,” he said. “The second they see this technology, they want it.”

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Groupings Explained:

The Low Authority Group [D-List Bloggers]
(3-9 blogs linking in the last 6 months)
The average blog age (the number of days that the blog has been in existence) is about 228 days, which shows a real commitment to blogging. However, bloggers of this type average only 12 posts per month, meaning that their posting habits are generally dedicated but infrequent.

The Middle Authority Group [C-List Bloggers]
(10-99 blogs linking in the last 6 months)
This contrasts somewhat with the second group, which enjoys an average age not much older than the first at 260 days and which posts 50% more frequently than the first. There is a clear correlation between posting volume and Technorati authority ranking.

The High Authority Group [B-List Bloggers]
(100-499 blogs linking in the last 6 months)
The third group represents a decided shift in blog age while not blogging much more frequently than the last. In keeping with the theme of the maturation of the blogosphere, it seems evident that many of these bloggers were previously in category two and have grown in authority organically over time. In other words, sheer dedication pays off over time.

The Very High Authority Group [A-List Bloggers]
(500 or more blogs linking in the last 6 months)
In the final group we see what might be considered the blogging elite. This group, which represents more than 4,000 blogs, exhibits a radical shift in post frequency as well as blog age. Bloggers of this type have been at it longer – a year and a half on average – and post nearly twice a day, an increase in posting volume of over 100% from the previous group. Many of the blogs in this category, in fact, are about as old as Technorati and we’ve grown up together. Some of these are full-fledge professional enterprises that post many, many times per day and behave increasingly like our friends in the mainstream media. As has been widely reported, the impact of these bloggers on our cultures and democracies is increasingly dramatic.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not a prude. But I do think some basic guidelines are in order. These are not rules about skirt length or the amount of cleavage you can show. I’m just not a very good legalist; they are simply guidelines.

I gave these to my girls when they were growing up. Frankly, they haven’t been perfect in following them. Modern culture exerts a powerful influence. Nevertheless, I wanted them to have something that would transcend current fashion and guide their attire once they were older and, perhaps, a little wiser.

Here they are: "Four Guidelines for Modesty":

1. If you have trouble getting into it or out of it, it is probably not modest.
   
   
2. If you have to be careful when you sit down or bend over, it is probably not modest.
   
   
3. If people look at any part of your body before looking at your face, it is probably not modest.
   
   
4. If you can see your most private body parts or an outline of those parts under the fabric, it is probably not modest.

I Now Pronounce You Totally Confused

Stephen Savage