Shabana Wollin, PMP - Project Management, Social Media Marketing & IT Resource Blog

Video: Influence of Social Media on India's Digital Consumer

2012-01-31T20:47:00.002-06:00

As a business entrepreneur you need to be well informed on the local trends, economy, consumer behaviors and your industry. For those of us that are looking to penetrate emerging markets, it is even more so important to stay in touch with trends in those countries. I found this video by Nieslen India to be insightful to learn about the influence social media has on India's digital consumer. It is amazing to note that India will be the second largest country after United States by 2012. LinkedIn already has 9 million users in India!

Creative Marketing Strategy with Social Media & Flash Mob

2012-01-29T21:40:00.003-06:00

On a recent flight to India, the world's oldest European airline at age 85, Finnair, chose to do something unique for its on-board passengers. It implemented a Creative Marketing Strategy with Social Media & Flash Mob style around its "Designed for You" campaign. Finnair Flight AY201 was bound to India's capital city, New Delhi from Helsinki. January 26th was India's 63rd Republic Day. To commemorate this event, the Finnish airlines crew performed a Bollywood style dance aboard the flight as surprised passengers watched. The video has already gone viral on YouTube and many are remarking on what a great creative marketing strategy with social media it had been by the airline. The blog post on Finnair has received over 150 comments and the YouTube video over 2.8M views already! You can watch the clip below.

Here is the original song: Om Shanti Om, Song Deewangi

Video: Is there an Indian Way of doing Business?

2011-12-15T17:17:00.001-06:00

Have you ever wondered, if there was such a thing as an Indian way of doing business? Dr.Devdutt Pattanaik has a title of Chief Belief Officer at the Future Group. Business Sutra is a special series on CNBC TV18 India presented by Dr. Pattanaik where he attempts to answer this question in a conversational setting faciliated by Ms. Menaka Doshi.

Business Sutra discusses the purpose of a corporation, short term goals versus long term ideals, leadership qualities, dharma sankat and modern day business conflicts, ownership versus management, the lifecycle of a business and similiar issues pertaining to Leadership & Governance.

Did you find this resource helpful? Leave your comments below.

Related Links:
Dr. Devdutt Pattanai
Business Sutra-Leadership

International Business: Business Tour of India

2011-12-10T10:29:00.001-06:00

Orfalea College of Business - Cal Poly's International Business Trip to India

International Business: Doing Business in India

2011-12-09T18:05:00.010-06:00

By: Shabana Wollin

Today I attended a great informational briefing on the International Business Development Trade Mission to India. It was sponsored by the newly created Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. The mission is scheduled to travel to India tentatively April 21-May 2 2012 to explore ways to tackle the rapidly expanding water and waste water market. The mission will include visits to major mega cities in India namely: New Delhi, Mumbai and perhaps even Chennai. The trip will include market briefings, one-on-one business meetings with potential customers, facility tours, first-hand market intelligence on exporting, and investment & R&D opportunities. To learn more about this trade mission visit the WEDC website.

The briefing today was presented by Mr. Arup Mitra, a senior Commercial Specialist in the US Commercial Service office from Kolkata, India. It was insightful to learn about challenges and opportunities that are currently being created in India as a result of the growing water crisis. Access to fresh, clean, safe drinking water has been always been a known challenge in India. With its growing population at 1.2 billion with a GDP of over $1 trillion, India continues to grow at a steady rate of over 7%. This growth adds to the growing stress of the steadily diminishing natural resource - water! The key issues that India faces with water resources are: declining availability, increasing demand and the general water quality. These issues give rise to opportunities for companies in USA and other advanced countries to help address this immediate critical need. This need can be addressed by means of technology innovation, infrastructure installation, community education, successful foreign partnerships, government subsidies etc.

I eagerly look forward to continue learning about this trade mission as additional information becomes available to me in the upcoming weeks.

Are you are a US based company thinking about doing business in India? If so, what are some of the markets sectors you have considered ? What do you think would be your biggest challenge in doing business with India ?
Please share with us your thoughts in the comments section below.

Links of Related Interest:
U.S Commercial Service
Milwaukee Water Council
Doing Business in India
Aquatech India Conference 2012

15 Best Facebook Business Pages

2011-11-22T12:44:00.002-06:00

A great article from HubSpot Blog by Kipp Bodnar about some of the most captivating and well designed Facebook pages. I especially like Nutella & LL Bean's pages. Which ones got your attention? Share your comments below!

The 15 Best Facebook Pages You've Ever Seen

Video: Teaching the 7 Habits to Children

2011-11-03T22:04:00.002-05:00

Video: The Leader in Me - a Franklin Covey Program

2011-11-03T22:01:00.000-05:00

I found this really interesting video resource from Fraklin Covey

Gadget Video: A flexible stand for your iPad or a tablet device

2011-10-08T12:22:00.000-05:00

For those of you that actively use an iPad or a tablet, might find this useful!

Technology Video: VMWare CIO & Cloud Computing

2011-10-08T12:01:00.004-05:00

Oracle Public Cloud

2011-10-06T09:28:00.003-05:00

Video: 5 Ways to Win in Business

2011-10-05T13:31:00.002-05:00

Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

IBM Commercial

2011-10-04T21:32:00.000-05:00

I passed my PMP exam last Wednesday!!

2011-08-02T19:32:00.000-05:00

The cake I took into work the next day. Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, was yummy!

I am so happy to announce that I acheived my PMP certification from the Project Management Institute, PMI last Wednesday. I got the authorization/confirmation to take the exam in February and I scheduled my exam for July. I must say it is very challenging to study in the summer, but I was brave and continued my study game plan. I was so releived to see the "Congratulations, you passed" on the screen after the gruelling 4 hours and 30 minutes. The exam is preceded by a 15 minute optional tutorial and followed by a 15 minute optional survey. I have been requested by some of my colleagues to help them as they also prepare to sit for this exam, and right now, I am planning on setting up a site to accomplish that. I would love to know how many of you reading my blog are pursuing their PMP certification or at least considering it. Please feel free to leave your comments below.

Twitter Etiquette: Shama Kabani on Good Morning Texas

2010-09-17T10:59:00.003-05:00

An insightful video clip by Shama Kabani on Twitter Etiquette, why use Twitter, what you should be doing and what you should not be. Watch it and leave your comments on how you use Twitter today and if you found this video useful.

Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education | Video on TED.com

2010-09-07T10:31:00.001-05:00

Prof. Sugata Mitra is a Professor of Educational Technology at the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at the Newcastle University, United Kingdom. He is the founder of the "Hole in the Wall (HIW)" experiment, where in the year 1999 a computer was placed in a kiosk created within a wall in an Indian slum in New Delhi and the children were allowed to freely use it. The experiment aimed at proving that kids could be taught to use computers very easily without any formal training. Prof. Sugata Mitra aptly termed this methodology "Minimally Invasive Education (MIE)". His interests include: Education, Remote Presence, Self organizing systems, Cognitive systems & Physics & Consciousness. The video below is from a recent talk Prof. Mitra presented at TED Global 2010.

Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education Video on TED.com

How to Series: Low Fidelity Prototyping - Part 1 of 3

2010-09-03T14:16:00.008-05:00

I have been planning to do a blog post on the topic of Low Fidelity Prototyping (LFP) for sometime now. I have used this technique with my projects for a few years now with good success rates. This blog post will introduce you to Low Fidelity Prototyping or LFP if you are unfamiliar with it and help you get started with using it in your next project!

There is a lot of great information to share with you and I want to keep the posts at a good reading length. Hence, I have decided to break this topic up in a series of 3 posts. In this post I will give you an introduction on the topic, why you need to know it, and answer some frequently asked questions. If you have specific questions, feel free to ask me in the comments section below.

What is Low Fidelity Prototyping (LFP)?
It is a simple, basic, paper based prototyping technique that is used to develop interfaces for a website or software application quickly and cost effectively. It is based on the simple philosophy of "less is more". By the utilization of simple and readily available tools such as: pens, paper, markers etc., you can develop complex interfaces that can easily be updated or modified. The finalized paper prototype can then be easily implemented into a fully functional website, application or product.

Why should I use Low Fidelity Prototyping or LFP?
The reason why you should try LFP at least once is to see for yourself the simplicity and the time & money that is saved by utilizing this technique. The biggest reason more companies are opting for this technique is the time, money & resources that can be saved by adopting it. For a developer, it keeps them from getting emotionally attached to the prototype prematurely.

OK, so how do I get started with LFP?

The tools required for LFP are simple and can be found readily around your home or desk at work. They include but are not limited to: markers in several colors of your choice, crayons, pencils, color pencils, dry erase markers (if using a white board), sheets of white paper, a post it board, post its and creative minds! To stay organized, I have created a LFP Toolkit that I like to take along for my sessions. This helps me ensure I have all the tools I need in one place everytime for each of my sessions. I will give you a tutorial on how you can create a simple LFP Toolkit for your team in Part 2 of this series.

Low Fidelity Prototyping Toolkit Contents

How should I prepare for my first LFP session?

Make sure you have at least 3 or 4 sample mock ups of your interface that you create based on your user requirements. You can create these simply by taking your large sticky post it notes and sketching some basic navigation and what the interface should look like. There is no need for this to look pretty or perfect. You can create navigation representations just for the main page or all the pages, user interactions representation, button click states, functional drop downs, page linkages etc. You can dedicate a separate page on your post-it for each of the above and invite for user feedback. You can also have 3 or 4 different mock ups of what the navigation could look like.

Based on the level of complexity of the project, this task should not take you more than a few minutes. The reason I prefer doing it on a large sticky post-it notes, is so that during my LFP session, I can invite my participants to interact directly on the drawings and can take it back with me.

How long does a LFP usually last or how much time should I allocate for such a session?

Plan on blocking off at least 2 hours on every one's calendar that is involved in this session. This ensures that you get the maximum benefit or feedback in one session instead of having to schedule for multiple sessions several days apart. I run half day sessions with an hour break based on the complexity of the project involved. If you are having such longer sessions, make sure you are giving your participants at least two 10 minute breaks to keep them energized throughout the process. Please remember to have fun in the process and encourage the same of everyone involved!

When is the best time this technique is most effective or at what stage in a project should I utilize it?

The best time this technique is most effective is EARLY ON, or when you have had at least one or two user requirements gathering sessions completed. You also would use this technique before you develop anything on the computer. This technique can be used when a company does not have the need for sophisticated prototyping software or the project has a limited budget. This technique is also very popular with organizations where end user buy in & feedback is important early on in a project.

In the Part 2 of this series, I will show how you can create a LFP Toolkit (sample below) for your team, respond to your questions, and discuss some examples I have created.

Please post your questions and comments below, I look forward to your feedback on this post!

My LFP Toolkit

The City of LA's story

2010-08-30T21:52:00.000-05:00

SlideShare: Social Media & Maketing

2010-08-30T19:52:00.001-05:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation on Social Media & Marketing Evolution.

Social Media

View more presentations from Alex Wong.

Quote of the Day: Trust!

2010-08-27T09:20:00.002-05:00

"It is impossible to go through life without trust: That is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself."

Graham Greene, The Ministry of Fear

Google's Acquisition History

2010-08-26T09:00:00.002-05:00

A look at the history of all the acquisitions that Google has made since February 2001. You can click on the image below to see the full view document. I know my blog frame is narrow to hold the entire graphic!

Research by Scores.org

Quote of the day: Goal!

2010-08-25T14:04:00.001-05:00

"Energy is the essence of life. Every day you decide how you're going to use it by knowing what you want and what it takes to reach that goal, and by maintaining focus. "

Oprah Winfrey, O Magazine, July 2003

Video: Jennifer Aniston uses the R-word

2010-08-25T12:07:00.001-05:00

Video: Meet Alex!

2010-08-24T19:10:00.004-05:00

Video: Social Media in Healthcare

2010-08-24T19:01:00.003-05:00

Video Courtesy: Daniel Dunlop
Dan Dunlop is President and CEO of Jennings, a North Carolina-based branding and advertising with a specialty in healthcare marketing. Visit Jennings.

Video: "Iam" Hospital Commerical

2010-08-24T18:55:00.004-05:00

"I Am" Hospital TV Commercials

- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Podcast & Video: Healthcare & Social Media

2010-08-24T18:51:00.001-05:00

Healthcare and Social Media - Webinar - icyou health videos
- Watch more Tech Videos at Vodpod.

Video: Being Agile is our favorite thing

2010-08-22T21:20:00.002-05:00

Funniest video on Agile teams!

Night out in Cleveland & Road trip back home

2010-08-22T17:51:00.005-05:00

After a great conference and closing session, I headed out to downtown Cleveland with the family for dinner. After cruising around taking in the sights of downtown Cleveland, we headed to the House of Blues restaurant. This restaurant is located in the East 4th Street entertainment district. The place was bustling with a lot of young people enjoying the Friday night scene in downtown Cleveland! We got a table outside, tucked away in a cozy corner. Some of the other restaurants in that street were Pickwick & Frolick restaurant, Saigon, Lola and a few others I cannot seem to remember now. We ordered the fish special they had that night. It was an almond crusted Sole with rice and fresh veggies. The dish was just OK, nothing over the top delicious. After dinner, we headed back to our room. Our hotel was taken over by a large group of little league football players from Illinois. I am glad we checked out bright & early Saturday!

We headed to the West Side Market for breakfast. It is apparently one of the oldest & publicly owned markets in Cleveland, Ohio. They have vendors selling everything from fresh fruits to exotic spices to fresh fish & meat! It was an amazing experience! I had the most delicious Greek meat pie for $2.00 and huge apple fritter for another couple dollars !!! It just made me wish we had something similar here in Milwaukee! After the market trip, we decided to check out the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Cleveland, OH. It was just less than 30 minutes away. I was disappointed because once we got there, the park was not as impressive as it was made out to be. If you had a bike or were a hiker, perhaps you might have enjoyed it better. It is not a park if you are just driving through it. After spending about an hour, we headed back home to Milwaukee. It was just pouring since the time we got on the freeway until we got off the Ohio Turnpike. Then, we had sunny skies all the way into Milwaukee, Wisconsin! The total drive time was approximately 6 hours and 30 minutes. Overall, it was a great trip, great learning experience, amazing city! I would definitely want to go back there if I had an opportunity.

How to Socialize User Experience Design: Thinking Outside Your Website

2010-08-22T15:55:00.000-05:00

How to Socialize User Experience Design: Thinking Outside Your Website

SlideShare: What is Social Media?

2010-08-22T10:35:00.003-05:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

What is Social Media?

View more presentations from Marcella Chamorro.

Part II: Another knowledge packed day at MWLUG, Cleveland

2010-08-20T21:52:00.002-05:00

Ok, here is part II of my post continuing where I left off. The next session I attended after the delicious lunch was:

1:30-2:30 An Introduction to Object Oriented Programming for Notes/Domino Developers presented by Brandt Fundak, Olympic Steel.
My review: The session was very well presented. I enjoyed Brandt's effortless, engaging presentation stlye. I would love to see more topics presented by him, perhaps on "Introduction to Java for Lotus Domino Developers". The session introduced the concepts of class, properties, methods, declarations, how to invoke & use them, scope etc. Very useful session for folks that are not already familiar with OOP concepts. Brandt will also have his presentation available on the MWLUG site for download.
After this session, I took an afternoon break and came back to my room and got caught up with emails etc. My next and last session for the day was
4:00-5:00PM Low Fidelity Prototyping presented by Chris Blatnick Interface Matters.
My review: This session was being presented by Chris in the place of Fast-track to plugin developed since Michael Masterson could not attend to present his session. I found this session very interesting to learn application prototyping in paper! I use the PostIt methodology in my user requirements gathering sessions. It is similar, but this technique is for prototyping an application before you even go near your computer to code anything. Very kool!
The closing session was from 5:00-6PM and a few t-shirts were raffled off. I did not win anything.. The dates for MWLUG 2011 were announced! I was excited to find out it will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin!!!

That was my day for today at the MWLUG 2010 conference in Cleveland, Ohio. I am ready to head out for dinner now with the family in the lovely downtown area.

Events: Another knowledge packed day at MWLUG 2010 !

2010-08-20T17:14:00.006-05:00

Well, today, I missed the Birds of a Feather session for Building Your Lotus User Group Community by Richard Moy. It was just a bit too early for me at 7AM! Oh well, I plan to connect with Richard at some point to discuss plans for rebuilding the SouthEast Wisconsin User Group community. In any case, the sessions I attended today were as follows:

9:00-10AM Getting Social in the Lotus Space presented by Gregg Eldred & Denny Russell.
My Review: It was a great session!! Lots of nice information on the social networking sites. I learnt about PlanetLotus & BleedYellow! Best practices and tips for social networking, twitter, facebook & blogs were presented. Lots of stories relating to personal experiences with social networking were also shared. I am definetely connecting with these guys!!

After a quick coffee break, I attended

10:15-11:15 XPages: Beyond the Introduction presented by David Leedy, Notes in 9
My Review: Since I attended David's Introduction to XPages session, I had to attend this to learn more about XPages and boy did I learn some great NEW things!! I am just getting very anxious to dive into this material once I get back home! There is just so much to absorb and David presented this session with lots of deep dive demos with real examples. It helped to see how things work in XPages. I wish I could spend more time learning what David knows! Great presenter! Will need to watch his Notes in 9 videos!! He has said he will make his material available on his website and perhaps even a video, which obviously will be more than just 9 minutes!!
After yet another coffee break, I attended an amazing, mind boggling session

11:30-12:30 XPages: The Evolution of Possible presented by Tim Tripcony, GROUP Business Software.
My Review: WOW! in a nutshell. Some of the things Tim talked and presented
went way over my head. I think it was very advanced, very high tech. But it set the tone for what is possible with XPages! Expect the unexpected and there is no such thing as "NOT POSSIBLE" anymore! I would love to first feel comfortable writing my first XPages app and then perhaps try out some of the kool things Tim talked about in this session. I know I left the session with my brain hurting from all that I saw that is possible with XPages. Ouch! Another very strong & kool expert that I would want to connect with!

After that brain hurting session, it was finally time for lunch!
12:30-1:30PM: Lunch Break
I was almost going to pass on it since the previous day we just had a basic boxed lunch. I am glad I did go, since the spread was pretty large! It was a hot buffet lunch with fresh green salad, pasta with marinara sauce, sandwiches with smoked turkey, roast beef, choice of yummy rolls, soup and the most delicious dessert table!! Yummy!!! What can I say, it was very well done! I think I will take a nap after this! More to come about the rest of the day in the following post, so stay tuned....

Events: Attending the Lotus User Conference in Cleveland, Ohio!

2010-08-19T14:22:00.005-05:00

I am currently in lovely Cleveland, Ohio just soaking in all the knowledge from the experts that are presenting great topics & hands on workshops here at the MWLUG Conference! We got here early this morning at 2:30AM, Cleveland time, driving almost 7.5 hours from Milwaukee, Wisconsin! It was a smooth drive on Interstate 80/90 East. As I mentioned in my older posts, I am staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Downtown. We were first given a room on the seventh floor and when we were walking down the hallway, I smelled cigarette smoke. When I walked into my room, I was surprised to find an ashtray and room reeked of more smoke. So, I called the front desk and they told me I was on the smoking floor!! I just assumed that they would have all my preferences noted (made reservations online), but apparently not. The front desk receptionist was kind enough to move us to the 11th floor promptly and get us new key cards and boy was I glad to get another room!! What a difference!!! The room is quite comfortable and I have a view of the freeway.
After barely about 4 hours of sleep after 7 some hours of driving, I feel a bit tired now. I woke up at 7:30AM EST and got ready to attend the 8AM breakfast & registration at the conference. They had a nice spread of fresh fruit, pastries, bagels with cream cheese, fresh fruit juices, coffee and tea! The opening general sessions were presented by Richard Moi, President of GRANITE Lotus User Group, Scot Rourke, oneCommunity, David Via, IBM and Kris Snyder, Vox Mobile.
I attended the Web Technologies Every Domino Developer Must Know session presented by Brandt Fundak, Olympic Steel and Introduction to XPages session presented by David Leedy, Notes in 9. After lunch & some much needed rest, I attended a 2 hour workshop on Building your first XPages application with Roy Rumaner & Michael MacGarel! Hence, today was totally packed with lots of exciting new material for me and I am looking forward to tomorrow's sessions!

Events: The Presidential fundraiser event was WONDERFUL!!!

2010-08-16T14:14:00.004-05:00

Today, I had an interesting opportunity to attend a Democratic fundaraiser event for Mayor Tom Barrett at which President Barack Obama was speaking. This was a private event not open to the public. We were seated at table #2, very up close and personal to the podium. The lunch was delicious and included a pasta salad, grilled chicken, and a yummy caramel apple pie! Mayor Tom Barrett took to the podium first, welcomed everyone and spoke briefly. He then introduced the next speaker, President Barack Obama! I have not had the opportunity to see and hear the President in person, and it was amazing! The highlight for me was to be able to shake his hand at the end of his speech and for him to ask me "so how are you?". That sums up this post for today! To hear his speech and schedule at Milwaukee, visit these links:
Presidential visit in Milwaukee, WI
For others that are reading my blog that have also attended this event today, feel free to share your thoughts below.

Events: Attending a fundraiser event for Mayor Tom Barrett

2010-08-16T11:27:00.002-05:00

The President of the United States of America is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin today and I will be attending an event in which he will be speaking! It is such a privelege to have such an opportunity. I will be representing my company at the event. Thank You iCare! To learn more about the President's schedule in Milwaukee today, check his schdule.I hope to have photos later in the day.

Events: MWLUG Conference Attendees get 50% off on IBM Certification Exams!!

2010-08-16T09:53:00.003-05:00

This is latest from the MWLUG 2010 Conference that is coming up later this week. All attendees will receive a voucher for 50% off their certification exams from IBM!! Just in time for me to take advantage of this offer to take my recertification for 8.x!!
You can check out the details here:
IBM Exam Certification Discount Vouchers

Video: American Teens & Social Media

2010-08-11T19:06:00.004-05:00

Blog Updates: New feature- A Job Board!

2010-08-08T12:31:00.010-05:00

I am pleased to announce my newest service to all my blog readers-- a job board feature powered by Job*a*matic, a Simply Hired service! The job board is called "Get me hired now!". Job seekers are able to browse through all available jobs in Wisconsin, search for a specific job by keywords, and also see the most recently posted jobs on the site. Employers and recruiters can post jobs on this site for a small monthly subscription fee. I would love to hear your feedback on what you think of this new feature! Please post your comments below. Also, if you would like to get help in setting up a job board service for your blog, drop me a line below.
Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend so far!

Get me hired NOW!

Department of Workforce Development - Reemployment Services Session

2010-08-05T11:49:00.005-05:00

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Website

Today, I was invited to attend and participate in a 2 hour session from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development's Reemployment Services. RES is an important program that has proven effective in helping job seekers. This program was made possible through a DOL grant. For those of you interested in learning about this program, view this PowerPoint presentation. The letter I received mandated me to attend it and that I was randomly chosen due to my layoff in 2009. I also had to take a survey and create a candiate profile on the Job Center of Wisconsin before the session. I found out that it did not matter that I am currently employed. They are offering this as a useful resource to everyone that has been, is, or will become unemployed. I am glad I attended, as I found a lot of great information at the event! The session was held in the MATC, Mequon location at 5555 W. Highland Ave. on the West Campus. I had to sign in and then received a bright pink parking permit to put inside the dash of my car. The receptionist informed me I can use the same permit for future events I attend at that DWD Center. There were atleast 10-15 other attendees today. We were escorted by Mr. Ken Moravec, our RES coach to a classroom down the hallway. We received helpful handouts on resources that are available through DWD, local networking groups, calendar of events for training, career workshops etc. It was all very useful information. Ken presented our orientation session offering various helpful resources that are available, interviewing tips, networking events, career workshops, and the National Career Readiness Certificate Program (NCRC Certification Program). I will be doing more research on this in the upcoming weeks to see if that is something I might be interested in acheiving for my jobskills portfolio. Overall, it was a very helpful session. I picked up a lot of good resources from the center. If my blog readers are interested, I can blog about topics of interest such as: networking for job seekers, dress for success, job resources for persons with disabilities, How to get started on LinkedIn, how to setup a blog and use it as a tool for your job search etc.
If you are interested, leave a comment below with your topic of interest and I will queue up my posts per your requests.

Events: Trip to Cleveland, Ohio Finalized!

2010-07-31T10:05:00.005-05:00

I have finalized my trip to attend the MWLUG Conference in Cleveland, OH. Just made my hotel reservations at the lovely Hilton Garden Inn in downtown! If you are a AAA member, willing to pay the entire stay in full upfront and are making reservations before 14 days, they are offering excellent rates! Call them and find out for those of you attending or check it out on their reservations page. I will be driving down from Milwaukee. It will take me approximately 8 hours. I still have to work on Wednesday and cannot leave sooner than 6PM! So, it will be interesting. Anyone else attending this conference and would like to meetup, please email or leave your comments below.

Blog Updates: Blog getting a makeover!

2010-07-30T08:02:00.005-05:00

Next week this blog will be getting a makeover!! Please stay tuned for the new look. I am currently accepting requests from interested bloggers to blog here. If you would like to participate in this, please email me directly with the topics.

Events: Attending a Power Lunch Event today!

2010-07-28T10:42:00.003-05:00

I will be attending a Power Lunch event sponsored by Independence First, Milwaukee. It is being held at a popular Milwaukee destination, the Potawatomi Bingo & Casino! The invited guest speaker is Mr.Lou Ferrigno. You can read about Lou's background here. For more details on the event, visit Independence First's event page.

SalesForce.com Meetup in Milwaukee

2010-07-28T10:24:00.000-05:00

For those of you that might be interested in learning more about or collaborating with your peers regarding Salesforce.com, please check out this Salesforce.com Meetup LinkedIn Group that is forming in Milwaukee, WI. For questions or comments please contact Mr.Prashant Sakhuja.

Increase your Blog Traffic in 3 Logical Ways

2010-07-27T15:27:00.001-05:00

Increase your Blog Traffic in 3 Logical Ways

Positive Qualities for a Corporate Blog

2010-07-27T15:25:00.000-05:00

Positive Qualities for a Corporate Blog

Advertising Agency behind GEICO & many more popular ads on TV!

2010-07-27T12:26:00.002-05:00

The Martin Agency is behind one of my favorite ads on TV, the GEICO Gecko!! To see more of the GEICO Gecko ads, visit this link.

Events: MWLUG 2010 August 19th & 20th in Cleveland, Ohio

2010-07-27T11:50:00.002-05:00

I plan on attending the Midwest Lotus User Group 2010 conference to be held in Cleveland, Ohio on August 19 & 20th!
This conference is FREE to attend with a $35 donation to the User Group of your choice and an optional $10 donation to the Cleveland Foodbank. To read more about this please visit the site directly here.
Anyone else planning on attending this conference? Please leave your response below!

ADA Celebration at the White House - Live Webcast!

2010-07-26T15:21:00.006-05:00

The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) celebration taking place at the White House today will be streamed live at www.whitehouse.gov/live beginning 5:30PM Eastern Time. The live stream will have captioning available as picture within a picture or an alternative setup. Hopefully they don't run into any technical difficulties with this process! Join & share in the celebration!

Top 10 Qualities of a Project Manager

2010-07-26T14:42:00.003-05:00

Project Smart lists below the Top 10 qualities of a Project Manager. If you are a Project Manager reading this article and would like to add further to it, please post your comments below.

Top 10 Qualities of a Project Manager

Free XPages Training!

2010-07-26T12:09:00.002-05:00

Check out these amazing FREE opportunities for XPages training coming up in August 2010!! Are any of you planning on attending these? As seen on the XPages Blog!

Americans with Disabilities Act Turns 20!

2010-07-26T10:13:00.001-05:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

To SCRUM or not to SCRUM... that's the big question!

2010-07-22T10:44:00.002-05:00

I have heard a lot of debate on this subject from various experts. I do not use Scrum methodology in my practice. I am aware of some companies that utilize this and have had little success. I am interested in learning from some of the Scrum masters, past SMs, Project Managers that have been part of Scrum teams, IT managers about your experiences in working with this methodology. What worked for you when you utilized this methodology, what did not, what were some of the challenges you faced, would you continue utilizing it for future projects, what industries in your opinion work best for Scrum? I am looking forward to hearing from you! Please leave your comments below.

How Social Media Helps one Small Business Connect with fans

2010-07-22T10:01:00.000-05:00

I found this article interesting on how this company utilized a social media strategy to acheive success in marketing their product. You can read the entire article here.

Interesting new poll regarding Facebook

2010-07-20T17:21:00.002-05:00

New poll shows that Facebook is hated as much as airlines and cable companies. Read more about this..

Essential Social Media Resources

2010-07-19T12:34:00.000-05:00

Originally posted by Zachary Sniderman: 23 Essential Social Media Resources you might have missed.

Tools: Over 60 Social Collaboration Tools for Groups

2010-07-19T12:30:00.003-05:00

A very useful link of over 60 social media collaboration tools. This original list was compiled by Sean P. Aune,60+ Collaboration Tools for Groups.

7-Eleven® Kicks Off 'Slurpee® Battle of the Bands' on 7/11 Day - Music Industry Today - News Media Monitoring

2010-07-19T11:50:00.000-05:00

7-Eleven® Kicks Off 'Slurpee® Battle of the Bands' on 7/11 Day - Music Industry Today - News Media Monitoring

7-Eleven utilizing Social Media to promote its brand Slurpee

Social Media Mines 'Privacy For Sale' At New Un-Facebook

2010-07-19T11:04:00.000-05:00

Social Media Mines 'Privacy For Sale' At New Un-Facebook

My Career Interests & Background

2010-07-19T10:00:00.008-05:00

I wanted to blog today about my career background and professional interests. You will also find this in much detail on my website, ShabanaWollin.com. I am an IBM Certified Advanced Application Developer - Lotus Notes & Domino since version 4.x. I am also a Six Sigma Black Belt. I am in the process of getting my PMI Certification (have to be brave to schedule the exam and take it!) I have spent 14 years of my career in IT & Manufacturing, developing solutions & helping companies improve their processes, maximize their ROI and acheive measurable results. Some of the industries I have worked in include: Finance & Banking, Risk Management, Insurance, Metals & Mining, Business Consulting Services, County Governments, & Government owned companies.
I started my own consulting practice in 2009, Bluefrog Technologies LLC after suffering a layoff. I got involved with various technologies besides IBM Lotus Notes & Domino, expanded my business development skill set, maximized social networking, volunteered in the community, mentored other IT professionals,served on my son's school advisory board, got involved with my Alma Mater, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Alumni, reconnected with old friends, read, re-explored my hobbies of Crochet, Knitting, & Jewelry Making & spent time reconnecting with my family! I realized I was learning a lot more from the people I was meeting and the connections I was making. Learning that would not have been possible while I was employed. I strongly beleive everything in life happens for a reason, be it good or bad. You have to remain strong, have faith and learn from it. Its easier said than done! While I was unemployed, I continued doing a lot of volunteer work and explored industries that I have never had any experience in.
Today as a result, I have an opportunity to be working as a Project Manager consultant for a company in the Healthcare Insurance field implementing a social media solution. You can learn about my current employer, Independent Care Health Plan, iCare by visiting their website. As a result of this project I am gaining new expertise in Social Media Marketing for healthcare & persons with disabilities, creating employment opportunities for youth with disabilities, utilizing social media to interact with physicians etc. Hence, on my blog you will find resources and posts related to these topics.
I am available to start on new projects in the First Quarter of 2011. If you are interested in learning about my consulting engagement process and hiring me, feel free to send me an email.

LinkedIn Poll!

2010-07-15T11:08:00.003-05:00

So would blocking your connections for all LinkedIn members be of added value for the LinkedIn concept? See results here.

Midwest Lotus User Group Conference, August 19-20 2010

2010-07-14T19:15:00.002-05:00

This year the MLUG Conference is going to be held in Cleveland, OH on August 19-20. To learn about the agenda, registration and other details visit their site directly at: MLUG Conference 2010

How many of you are planning on attending this conference this year? Please post your response below!

John Zarei: Enhancing the Web Experience

2010-07-14T19:09:00.000-05:00

John Zarei: Enhancing the Web Experience: "Web 2.0 & Social Media With the terms 'web 2.0' and 'social media' used interchangeably, it is easy to confuse the two with being one and t..."

Campaign for Disability Employment

2010-07-14T13:22:00.003-05:00

The Campaign for Disability Employment is a collaborative effort to promote positive employment outcomes for people with disabilities by encouraging employers and others to recognize the value and talent they bring to the workplace. (Source: Campaign for Disability Employment Website)

- What can you do? The campaign for disability employment.

Tools: How does your Facebook Business Page score?

2010-07-13T15:36:00.002-05:00

... use this nifty tool to find out at Facebook Grader for Business Pages

If you want to check the score of a Facebook profile, use this link

Using Social Media Tools - The Right Way (bpodr.com)

2010-07-13T15:14:00.001-05:00

An extensive article on how to use Social Media Tools the right way posted on BPODR, a company based in UK.

Article Name: Using Social Media Tools - The Right Way
Source: BPODR.com
About BPODR

A 2009 Business Week article: Social Media Snake Oil

2010-07-13T14:54:00.001-05:00

As I am researching resources for my project, I am finding a wealth of information on the web. I am posting links to these resources as blog posts so it is easy to get to the article source.
Beware Social Media Snake Oil

Social Media Governance

2010-07-13T14:41:00.001-05:00

An excellent site if you want to find tools & resources on social media applications founded by Chris Boudreaux. I found the policies tab really helpful to see what other companies are using for verbiage in their policies and guidelines links. You can explore and learn more at the Social Media Governance site.

Tools: Consumer Profiling Tool

2010-07-13T14:02:00.001-05:00

Check out the Consumer Profiling Tool presented by Forrester Research's Consumer Technographics data.

Tools: Five Social Software Predictions for 2010 and beyond

2010-07-12T11:37:00.004-05:00

Very insightful article by Gartner on Social Software outlook.

SlideShare: Social Technographics Defined

2010-07-12T09:43:00.001-05:00

A Slideshare presentation by Josh Bernoff, co-author of Groundswell.
Social Technographics Defined

Book on Amazon: Groundswell, winning in a world transformed by social technologies.

Perfect Networker

2010-07-11T20:28:00.001-05:00

I was invited to join this wonderful group. Another fine example of business social networking.

The Perfect Networker

LinkedIn Group

Perfect Networker - A Community Contributing to Your Success... One Connection at a Time.

Video: Social Media Revolution

2010-07-11T11:33:00.002-05:00

Social Media Revolution 2010

Social Media Revolution (newer)

Another older video on Social Media:
Social Media Revolution

Video: Interesting Social Media Videos

2010-07-11T11:23:00.002-05:00

I found these YouTube videos that I thought were very well made and explain in a nut shell what social media is all about.

Social Media Marketing in 3 minutes

Social Media in Plain English

Social Media: Google Search Stories

2010-07-11T11:12:00.001-05:00

For those of you that have not yet run into this:
Google Search Stories

IBM Lotus Notes Domino as a Social Media Platform

2010-07-09T14:10:00.000-05:00

Currently I am evaluating to see if Domino will be successful in delivering as a social media platform. I need to select a platform that is interactive with users and rich in social media such as blog feeds, youtube videos, tweets, etc. I would love to hear some feedback from folks that have successfully implemented Domino as a viable solution for this purpose. I would also love to hear about what are some of the more popular platforms people are currently using? Please leave your comments below.

Welcome!

2010-07-01T18:30:00.002-05:00

I have finally secured my own blog! It was a pending task for quite sometime on my todo list, and I am glad that I finally accomplished it! For those of you that are not familiar with my background, please visit my website to learn more about my expertise & areas of interest. In this blog I hope to write about my latest ventures, projects, and interests. Your comments are always welcome. I recommend that you register with my blog before you can post any comments. All comments are moderated before they will be posted.
I look forward to be posting regularly and grow this blog.