Checking In
I’ve been super busy the past couple of weeks. I went to Connecticut last week for a work related IT convention where I helped facilitate a breakout on integrating social media into the work place. One of the most interesting thing about the trip is not related to business. Keanu Reeves stayed at my hotel while filming a movie. He isn’t as tall as I thought he would be and he looked pretty scruffy. Being scruffy could be related to the movie roll.
Anyway, we’ve started to blog for US News and World Report’s Outside Voices. Subscribe so you can see updates!
Today is RSS Awareness Day
Today is RSS Awareness Day. The goal of today is to increase knowledge about RSS so the general public is more familiar with the concept. Organizers are hopefully that the exposure to RSS will increase the usage of feeds and Internet applications that support RSS.
For those not familiar with RSS, it stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” You can “subscribe” to a feed in a browser like Internet Explorer 7. If you have ever noticed an orange icon that highlights when you are on a blog, that page has a feed you can subscribe to. The benefits to subscribing are that you are notified of new content with out having to visit the page. If you are not an IE7 user, you can subscribe to feeds using Bloglines, Google Reader, or any other feed reader that you can find with a simple Google Search. Besides being able to subscribe to blogs, there are many sites that have RSS feeds including CNN and Flickr.
Give it a try. If you’re not sure if RSS is still for you, many websites, including this one, allow you to subscribe via email. Fresh content delivered to your mailbox– It’s Internet browsing made easier.
Jennifer Robinson in the Blogosphere
If you read my site, www.thejenson.com, I urge you to read a site that I regularly contribute to, www.newlycorporate.com. Newly Corporate is designed with Gen Y professionals in mind. It’s all about work, life, and the pursuit of happiness for the young professional. Newly Corporate is a collaborative effort and I am constantly learning from the posts of other contributors.
Here are some of my recent posts at Newly Corporate
How to Create an Impressive Portfolio - Learn tips on creating an impressive portfolio that will give you the competitive advantage over other candidates. This article was also picked up as a feature article at Brazen Careerist . Comments will be live in both posts. Please contribute.
What does casual Friday attire say about your Image? - Think twice before dressing down. This post highlights how to dress on Fridays.
Other News- Jennifer Robinson to author content for US News and Word Report Online
Within the last two weeks, I signed on to freelance contribute to US News and World Report with other members of Newly Corporate. I’m very excited about the opportunity for my writings to reach a new and very respectable audience. I will link my first post when published.
Tax Rebate Insight
Here’s a nice follow up to my recent post on the Economic Stimulus Checks via CNN. Sadly, I predict that many people who receive checks will be disappointed. Many people think they will be getting $600 but that may not be the case…
Tax rebates: A clue to co-workers’ salaries
Pay is a taboo subject in most offices, but listen closely to the water cooler chat and you might just might be able to figure out how much your colleagues make.
The Stimulus Checks Are Coming– Schedule Announced
If you are asking yourself, “When is my Bush Check Economic Stimulus Check coming?”, the answer may be sooner than you think. The IRS has released information on when payments will be issued. The good news is– it’s coming earlier than expected.
How will I get my stimulus check?
The checks will be distributed in two ways– via direct deposit or paper check. That’s right– some of the money will be deposit directly into your checking accounts.
Who gets paid first?
The checks will be deposited based on the last two digits of tax filers social security numbers. For those who will be receiving their checks via direct deposit, the schedule is:
Last two digits of SSN/ Payment Transmission by:
00-20 / May 2
21-75 / May 9
76-99 / May 16
Check the IRS site for Paper Check schedules. If you filed later than April 15, you may receive your check a few weeks later.
Why Does Your Business Need Social Media?
Why does your business need social media?
To answer this question simply, your business needs social media to increase communications and efficiency.
I am a huge advocate for bringing social media tools like del.icio.us, digg, twitter, StumbleUpon, and professional networking sites to corporations. As a Gen Y professional, I am more apt to integrate new technology into my daily work rhythm. I find that key stakeholders are frightened by social media. Many of these stakeholders are from clashing generations. Adopting social media means releasing control. Releasing control is very scary to a large business, that is often very mindful outputted messages.
A colleague, who is also in favor of integrating web 2.0 tools into business, shared a link from CIO, entitled Why CIOs must Embrace Social Software. It’s a good read if you want to know the pros and cons of social media in business. It recognizes that some decision makers are terrified of social media. Awareness may be the first step to integrate new tools to increase business efficiency. CIO uses an internal site that Best Buy associates have used to learn, grow, communicate, and collaborate.
What can social media do for you? Here’s one tool that can increase business efficiency.
Del.Icio.Us- Del.icio.us is a tool that I use each and every day to book mark information that is relevant to me. With the use of the toolbar, you can easy book mark information and categorize it with tags. Tags allow you to easily find the information at a later date. One neat feature about del.icio.us is that you can configure certain words to be illustrated on a feed. For example, on my business blog, any word tagged with “business” is displayed on my site bar. On my wedding site, any word tagged with wedding is displayed. Segmentation through tagging makes it easy to share articles with peers.
Stop back soon to learn how other social media tools can increase communications and efficiency in an organization.
Earth Day 2008
Today is Earth Day 2008. Please take time to reflect and act on how you can be conservative and reduce your carbon footprint. Remember, don’t just hug a tree– plant one!
Get out and VOTE!
To my fellow Pennsylvanians, today is voting day. Please head out to the polls and execute your voting rights as Americans. If you are unsatisfied by the state of the economy and of the nation, you must vote.
Business Word of the Day: Stretch Goals
What does ”stretch goals” mean?
Stretch goals is a coined termed by GE legend and former CEO Jack Welch. Stretch goals refer to the action of trying to achieve goals which may seem unattainable or ambitious. By “thinking outside the box,” performance may be improved to a level previously unimagined. Organizations need to provide tools, knowledge, and guidance to achieve stretch goals.
Because stretch goals are often very ambitious, it is not realistic to hold people accountable for not fully meeting goals. When setting goals, they should be tailored to win. They should not set up people to fail. It’s best to assign stretch goals to people who are not already overwhelmed.
Employees who successfully meet stretch goals should be considered talented. Learn from those who meet their goals and share the wealth obtained from meeting the goals.
Does Blogging Kill? Um, no.
Does Blogging Kill? The simple answer in my mind is no. Can your behaviors kill you? Yes. Can the information you present through your blog to the public kill you? Hopefully not, but yes. Does the act of blogging kill? Nah…
An article was recently published by the New York Times that suggested that blogging can kill. It cited three examples of extreme bloggers who died. I was asked to weigh in on the matter. You can see my thoughts, as well as a few other Gen Y blogger’s thoughts, over at the Schiff Report, a blog about news and views for Gen Y. Generation Y Bloggers Respond To NYT Article About Blogging Dangers
I wonder if the New York Times published the article to gain Internet traffic. Bloggers will talk about anything. If you talk about us, we are absolutely going to weigh in and give our two cents. Proof
