Thanksgiving Weekend in Canada

I haven't posted a blog entry for several months and have missed jotting down thoughts that occupied my mind or ideas that I felt were worth considering for my client group. I have posted more regularly on Twitter and appreciate that medium very much.

In these few months I have been;

• building a little but mostly organizing the building of our house in Yale. We live there now and like it alot! Want unique concrete countertops, rock/timber features etc? - have we got the artisan/builder for you!
  
• working on siM, the school counselor case management software that Abendago Media Group and I are watching take its first beta-steps, as all proud parents do
• planning and doing outreach for the Gathering at Hozomeen which was a successful 'first-ever' for the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission
• planning a new version of hopebc.ca
• hiking in our beautiful local mountains and volunteering at Educo Adventure School

I don't know how it is for you but I tend to wake up in the morning fairly eager to jump into the list for the day. This is why I started working for myself - I don't do very well in the doo-tee-doot employ of a routine role. Many people and organizations have trusted us with their work and the self-employ I enjoy wouldn't be possible but for them.

I'm glad for weekends such as this though where we are prompted to engage less intensely and consider the richness of our lives.

I know my life is a better place because of the people I get to meet through-out the year. Well, probably not the building inspector, but everyone else I'm sure. Thank you for sharing time, work, coffee, laughter and a bit of your life with me. Although I do forget alot, understand that I pay attention and I'm grateful.

have a great thanksgiving weekend,
smiles,
rudy

from http://smurl.ca/RheP

Zelda la Grange, Mandela's personal assistant and one of the organizers of the first annual Mandela Day, said: "Mandela gave up 67 years of his life for the anti-apartheid struggle, so we are asking people to give up 67 minutes of their day on July 18."

Posted via email from simplify's posterous

Hello Stephen

I did receive your facebook invitation and thought I’d articulate my facebook strategy. I ‘ignored’ your invitation because I keep my facebook ‘friending’ to include mostly those people that I don’t have opportunity to see face to face. If I can call you up for coffee and talk, chances are I won’t have you on the facebook account. I don’t want e-convo’s to replace real–live convo’s.

So, don’t feel rebuffed, my ‘friend’ list is only about a dozen or so strong and I routinely ‘ignore’ most invitations from people I can see personally.

I do however have a Twitter acct and would welcome your ‘following’ there if you like. www.twitter.com/roodee2 I have blogged about Twitter a few times. Notably here and here.

smiles,
rudy

Where'd he go?

No, I haven't left and am still very much in the writing mood. I am however, sorting out the next platform to carry my content. In a few weeks I'll launch the next version of The Simplify Company blog on a WordPress platform and look forward to resuming the writing there.

Why WordPress? Well, I'll have much to tell you about it when we start. For now, it indexes better with Google, it has great, clean design options and it is a platform I want to refer clients to, so I want to be very conversant in its use.

Enjoy the early weeks of summer! We'll talk soon.
(image credit: bladeronner.com)

smiles,
rudy

This is it. The big one. Twitter...

I think this is significant. http://smurl.ca/H5pg

A timely article / interview with Clay Shirky on the use of Twitter and Iran's current situation.

About the link, if you have a super-long URL (web address) to copy/paste to somewhere it often helps to shorten it. Go to http://smurl.ca/ and get a shortened version that makes this all simpler. And hey, as you know I'm all about simplifying! (lame dig-of-the-month)

Get Smarter

How do I, you know, get smarter? Well, back atcha! How do you?

School didn't work really well for me, but I'm finding more and more that a focused pursuit of understanding, following my curiousity is proving successful.

I've been thinking more about this lately because we are working on a project that actually gets smarter the more it is used. The siM or Student Intervention Manager records the successful and unsuccessful prescribed actions school care team members come up with as they search for solutions to help a student in crisis. siM processes this data and in subsequent Interventions, actually informs the school care team from this accumulated 'learning'. And that's just the tip of it! We're thrilled that the Search Insitute is talking with us about integrating their world renowned Developmental Assets Profile survey in siM. Yes teachers and school districts, you want to talk to me about this one. Maybe about hiRgrnd as well! It's exciting to work with education professionals on projects that actually affect positive change.

Anyway, back to how I get smarter... I read Seth Godin's blog post yesterday and have definitely noticed a shift personally from the second response he outlines when finding myself uninformed, to the first. That is, risking to be actively learning in the moment rather than noting the topic and researching it after. Still researching it after never you fear, but definitely being braver about interacting about it in the moment.

Canadian Camping Association website launches today!

Today we launched the new website, that is, new BILINGUAL! website for the Canadian Camping Association. These people and their membership KNOW everything about childrens' camping! Want to know anything at all about childrens' camping, talk to them or their member camps. They want to talk to you and share what they know.

I'm grateful for the team members who worked with me to develop and deliver this project. There were no physical meetings with the mostly Ontario based client group so all work was conferenced by phone and our workplace online was capably hosted by PBWorks. Matthijs at Exit170 worked on layout and design while Nathan and Mike at Abendago Media Group built the CSS and provided their capable Trewform CMS. Email subscription function on the Contact page is provided by Constant Contact.

What is Trewform CMS? I think this may still be a work in progress but the Abendago team want you to not only learn but try it out as well. Check out http://trewform.com/ and contact them or me with any questions.

The CMS on the Canadian Camping Association website will enable them to edit all content, manager passwords, use online surveys, upload and manage photo galleries, slide shows, video and maintain a password protected members area.

Educo Adventure School

And why wouldn't you want your child to spend time with - be influenced by this group of people at summer camp this year? Check it out... Educo.ca, near 100 Mile House, BC.

Website and Whistler

Yesterday and today were great days!

FindingYourWay.ca launched yesterday. This helping / training / enabling organization is a busy place working hard to help people get back to work.

The project development process involved interviewing each program manager and discussing what their specific program page would look like and how it would function. Although somewhat protracted, the inclusive process very much reflects the culture of their organization. Everyone's input is respected and sought intentionally. Funny thing is that although it was expected that there would be significant diversity of design between the various programs, the longer they worked at it the more similar they became.

Fully CMS'd by Abendago Media Group, the website enables each program manager to update their own info and images. Strong CSS code protects the design integrity of the site and I'm grateful to Jen Pratt Designs for her work on producing the design templates.

Our goal was to create a simple design reflecting the clear, simple solutions that MCCECD provides for its clients. The site design isn't about marketing so much as providing good information that is current and relevant to the job training seeker and peer consulting organizations who refer clients to MCCECD. I'm glad the client agrees that we have met that goal.

Today was also a great day as I and two commissioners of the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission presented at the BC Land Summit Conference at Whistler, BC. It was a 'road test' of the new PPT that The Simplify Company has developed for SEEC. The presentation went very well and it was simply a fab-sunny day to be at Whistler and on the beautiful Sea-to-Sky route on the way home.

And tomorrow is Friday.

Content Content Content

More and more clients groups are asking about blogs on their websites, 'because I heard it's a good and kinda necessary thing we should be doing'. The next question tends to be; "What should I write about?"

Answer = anything! Any ONE thing. Sure, tuck in a personal anecdote every now and again to let everyone know you're not a machine but pick a topic and be the expert.

Then, sure you can social market the pants off it, get GoogleJuice by strategic linking and some metawork, but consider this; why do you think over a hundred people go see a blog about burgers every day? Burgers in Victoria, BC at that? Scroll quickly through a bunch of historical posts and the answer will become increasingly clear. It's about burgers. All the time. Is the writer a people pleaser, trying to attract a larger readership with cute link bait teasers? Not likely.

What is the strategy then? I'm guessing there is no strategy. Just a guy and his buddies who want to write about burgers, all the time. And be brutally honest.
Here's an excerpt...

"I'm going to keep this review short and sweet, because there really isn't much to say. This is quite possibly the worst burger I have ever had. The patties taste like I-5 road garbage, and no amount of "spice rub" or "sundried tomato mayo" can ever change that. None of the other ingredients matter when your patties are this Karloffian. In the race for worst burger in town, we have our first contender."

Are you going to return to his blog and read it again and again? Probably eh? Refer it to friends? It will definitely come up in conversation. And why?

We are all attracted to integrity. We love real expression untainted by a marketing agenda. We all want to be like that and we follow people who are like that. The topic is almost secondary.

So yes, blog. It is a good thing to do. Produce real content that adds value to the internet's collectve intelligence. You and your current focus are unique. Show us.

Seth Godin articulates this beautifully in a recently posted TED talk. Set aside the 18 minutes you'll need for this talk about tribes. It's worth it.

The price of GREEN

Toxic Lawn Lady next door is out spreadin' the poison this morning! No wonder there are never birds on her lawn. No worms in there.

Can't we do better than this? Gah!

Thanks to people like Shawn there is good info available about how it's time to change. Like 20 years ago people!~

Social Media - Now Required

I'm not usually in the habit of just pushing other blog posts along but this one speaks to an issue I spend time on, with all client groups these days. Here is why you have to engage in social media now if you have a website that you hope to have found by your visitors. My thanks to Jason Cohen for this helpful post.

My new toaster

Why is this exciting? Well, I picked up a $250 toaster (!!) for $35 today. And why is this a big deal?

1. I can't believe that someone makes a toaster worth that much money.
2. It is now the shiniest thing in our kitchen!

Actually, we bought a fridge and stove today for the house that's a few weeks away from finished and sandwiched the toaster into the deal. Still, very fun today.

#Hash and Twitter

I'm surprised at the number of people who message or stop to ask a question that usually sounds something like; "On the internet, can you...?" or, "What's the best way to let people know about my...(product, band, service)...?"

What you can do via the internet truly is incredible, no doubt. The hottest topic and definitely fastest rising medium right now is Twitter.

What is all the fuss about Twitter anyway? Where does one start? Here's a good, quick description of not the mechanics of it but how it looks and acts in real life. Oh yes, and this article also explains #hash tags. Good to know.

If you like, you can follow me on Twitter!.

Social Media = be good!

How quickly can word get out when you mess up and someone notices? Read this.
Remember, these days it's about being transparent. So be good and don't mess up. OK? OK.

3 Good Friday tips

The pace of work is such these days that blogging is becoming the add-on as time allows. I had planned at one point to maintain a regular posting schedule and feature online apps that I am sure my clients and readers would appreciate and benefit from. My life doesn't work out quite that way now and I have also come to realize that simply sending along product information is not really addressing my core blogging intent.

What is my core intent?

You have realized by now that I don't market with the blog. Nor anywhere actually. I simply want the blog, the facebook page, the twitter profile, the website, the LinkedIn information etc. to reassure the searcher that yes, I am real and yes, I do web development projects and also manage projects as outreach coordinator for the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission. That's me. Oh yes, Maureen and I are also building a house, and this weekend, we're insulating!

What's important to me today? Well, my son and his girlfriend just breezed into town from Kimberly, BC, where they both worked the ski-hill this winter. It was great to share dinner with them tonight. This summer he and his sister are working at Educo Adventure School. A powerful summer camp program that really does change kids' lives. And their parents' lives too. Definitely worth a look and worthy of your support, if you're so inclined.

So, the interesting apps I was going to feature in the past two weeks are:

1. Postereous. If you twitter or micro-blog or facebook share in a hurry and want it to show up on numerous social platforms, all from your cell phone or other hand-held device. I used it a few times to try it out and found it dead-easy to learn to use.
   
2. This captcha function. Are you frustrated with trying to decipher the blurry letters you are provided with when you complete online forms? Check out the well considered captcha comments on this page. Or, the alternative can be this.
   
3. Maps. Have a look and prepare to blow any pretense of productivity out the window for a little while.

There you have it. Enjoy the weekend! (and what is your core intent?)
smiles,
rudy

Support Ken, please.

One of the things I do in my community is serve as volunteer fire chief. One of my fire fighters is Ken Hansen. Ken announced recently that he's riding for cancer this year which represents a significant commitment in his life. He's training by riding a mountain bike up the logging roads in our area. Once committed to something, Ken doesn't budge much. He follows through.

The Ride to Conquer Cancer people have provided Ken with a profile page where you can donate if you like. You'll find it here. His family has experienced loss as many of us have, due to cancer. His Auntie Jane, mentioned on the profile page, was in Vancouver receiving cancer treatment last year when her home in Yale caught fire. We attended and fought the fire but were unable to save the house. It has since been rebuilt and Auntie Jane now lives in a beautiful, small house near Yale again.

Ken doesn't know it yet but his volunteer fire department is writing a cheque in support of Ken's ride and we're excited to do it. In his young life, Ken has been an oil rig worker, long distance truck hauler and many other things. People like Ken don't often ask for help, and like in this instance, the help they ask for benefits someone else. If you can, contribute to his ride or your local cancer fundraiser. It's a good thing to do.

hiRgrnd.ca

I'm want to tell you a little more about a project called hiRgrnd that we launched for the BC School District 78 last November. Here's how it works:

- SD78 successfully obtained a significant grant from the Inukshuk Foundation enabling them to hire me to develop this project as well as their own curriculum development, some promotional funds and T’shirt / skateboard sticker etc production as well.

- Three local heroes were chosen and video footage was prepared

- Video classroom programs challenged students to produce anti-drugs video ads

- Students’ friends were invited by the students to also produce their own videos to compete for top spot

- The website enables students and other visitors to spread the word via facebook links and other social networking site links

- A customized WYSIWYG content management system provides easy content control to all webpages by school admin, suitable for administering by anyone with basic computer skills after a 1 hr tutorial.

- Technical support is provided

I was impressed by the school district’s willingness to embark on a project that trusted students to communicate anti-drugs messaging to their peers via real-time story telling and peer invitations to participate at the site. The courageous, three heroes provide a strong community connection and the Hot Links and Get Out page link to relevant, local sources of help. One of the local heroes, Nicole, travels to schools and school trustees with us to speak about her life and promote the site use.

Here is a press release that helps tell the story.

If drug use is a problem in your area and you think this radical method of reaching youth and children by your School District is a viable option, please contact me to talk about it. I would re-design the website so it is unique to your district, populate it with your relevant content and launch within 3 months. It makes a difference in the lives of those who work at presenting their message via video and it is a place where kids with questions can go that is safe, that leads to more safe places and people.

Why am I pushing this project again tonight? Tonight my friend Wenda referenced an episode of the CBC's Fifth Estate focussing on Insite, the safe injection site in Vancouver. I have friends who are stuck in this maddening cycle. Many among us are stuck. Watching this video overwhelmed me... Catching addiction early in youth and children is so important!

Working on hiRgrnd caused me to meet Nicole who is successfully staying clean and rebuilding her life, one tough day at a time. I'm immensely proud of her and hope you get to meet her some day. Her courage is contagious, motivates me and although I hardly know her, I'm so glad I do. Not because she's a winner, and she is, but because she's a fighter who understands the fight and encourages others to fight. Thanks Wenda.

Create Powerful Videos, Simply!

Video isn't just about footage of someone talking or doing something. Tell a powerful story with some imagination. Keep it short. Keep it simple.

Check out all these videos by CommonCraft entitled 'Explanations in Plain English'. Original, simple and effective.

Then make sure that your video will be found. Link it strategically, use socialmarker.com, embed it in your blog, your facebook page, website etc. Remember, video is irresistable Google candy!

Twitter & Smurl

So, you have no doubt heard about Twitter, tweeting and twits. What's all the fuss about? Here's an excellent article by Havi Brooks called Twitter Demystified and Debunked. Clears everything up in Havi's unique, clear way!

And what's a Smurl? You know those really long URL or website addresses that you get from some sites, like Google Maps for example. Here's the link for the Hope Cinema that we often walk to on $5 cheapy-tuesday nights.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hope+cinema&sll=49.378978,-121.436541&sspn=0.012461,0.022466&ie=UTF8&ll=49.380225,-121.439926&spn=0.003115,0.005617&t=h&z=18

If you were sending this link to someone in an email, wouldn't it be better to have that whole link simplified to http://smurl.ca/ci2Br or how about http://smurl.ca/hopecinema ? Smurl will shorten that cumbersome long link to something like these more-manageable examples. My friend Matthijs of Exit170 fame built that cool tool recently. Just thought I'd tell you that.

Target Uniforms website launch!

We're excited to launch the Target Uniforms website today. Target Uniforms is a division of Target Specialty Advertising in Richmond, BC. In addition to providing uniforms, Target Uniforms provides complementary services for customer uniform programs such as warehousing, web-based ordering systems, on-line catalogues, nationwide shipping with electronic tracking, custom designing & manufacturing, among others.

This new website is the entry point for the new or returning customer. It presents the products and enables the customer to submit their product requests or custom product requests to an account manager who follows up with a personal contact. Customers can upload an image on the custom request form or refer to another website link to help clarify what their custom uniform idea is.

Their unique look was achieved with illustrations by designer, Jennifer Pratt and the customized CMS and front page flash was provided by Abendago Media Group. The mailing list management and email promotional tool is provided by Constant Contact, enabling Target Uniforms to send well designed promotional emails to their client list and anyone else who decides to sign up. The project was managed by me, The Simplify Company via a PBWiki which once again served well to provide a common workspace and welcomed the client to participate with the team in that collaborative place.

Fearless - Innovative and Effective

Here's a Global News video about this innovative program in Vancouver.
Every time I see something like this I ask myself, and I'll ask you; "What are we doing to make things better where we are, with what is available to us?"

CMS your site

One of the vendors I enjoy working with is Nathan's crew over at Abendago Media Group. Abendago's website content management system (CMS) is great to present to clients who invariably are thrilled with the opportunity to make all their own website changes without contacting a tech to do it for them.

A significant site that Abendago built is The Revolution Movement, which is administratively, as by program affiliation, connected with CLA Church in Langley. All functions of this multi-featured site are administered from one access login, yet allowing hierarchical admin by program leads in the various program areas.

A Tech support / hosting agreement ensures that newly developed components and features become available immediately as they complete testing. This modular CMS structure makes adding new functions such as blogging, survey, advanced forms... easy at the request of the client.

Check out this multi-faceted site and realize that the client has full admin control to all images, text, links, menu order, pages on/off, events registration etc. The admin interface is designed so that a one hour orientation session sufficiently prepares you for any and all tasks you may want to perform on your own website. We always say; "If you can work with a word processor like MSWord, you can run your own website from anywhere!"
Feel free to contact me or Nathan at Abendago for more information about how this helpful tool can change how you manage your own website.

AWAY find - email help

When you need to get away from it all...

Or, when you need to 'get away' from the clutter and distraction of it all to actually get some substantive work done...

This may help.

I don't recommend it as a full-time thing. I find if annoying when I need to run the gauntlet of a third party application when all I want is my email message to get to you so you can respond and life can go on. However, as we all know, there are times...

BCCAMPING.ORG goes live!

We're thrilled to launch this new site for the BC Camping Association! With a robust CMS by http://abendago.com/ that is dead-easy to use for BCCA admin and clean design by Laura Kastelein this site is the new online face of a critical and fantastic organization.

The development process utilized the collaborative strength of a wiki by PBWiki, enabling multiple board members to participate while the vendors and I posted our work in progress there, to-do lists, images, reference links and contact info of all involved. My sincere thanks to the BC Camping Association for inviting us to work with them on this project.

Childrens' camps must be safe, transparent and accountable to one another as well as the larger public. The BCCA accomplishes this with their community building Accreditation program. The site also provides a simple password protected member's area for BCCA to share information with member camps and exective meeting financials, minutes etc.

If you are providing a summer camp experience for your child this year, and I hope you are!, make sure the camp is accredited by a camp association.

Forestry Fire Hose Roller

If you are a fire fighter or have observed firefighters you know how hard the actual firefighting work is. You're wearing many pounds of protective clothing, the working environment is often hot and you're always carrying something, moving something, actively working towards a goal.

And suddenly it's over. And you still have to pull all the hose you used, clean it, drain it, roll it and put it away. What if that just as suddenly, became simpler? What if it looked more like this?

I put together this squidoo lens for several reasons:

• I'm a volunteer fire fighter, have done some forestry operations and understand the work.
• I like Squidoo.com and the fact that their business model is firstly free to use and secondly donates money to charities.
• The forestry hose roller was designed by firefighters when they saw and experienced a need for it. It isn't some gizmo built by someone who is simply trying to sell another piece of overpriced equipment to fire departments.
• I know alot of people visit Squidoo sites and I hope they'll pass the word along about this particular squidoo lens.

What I find most impressive about this hose roller is that the developers guarantee that if you roll it properly, it will unravel tangle and twist free every time! The cute wobbling motion makes this so effective. The developers still aren't quite sure what to call their invention.

What would you call it?

Summer Camp Websites

I'm presenting at the BC Camping Association's annual conference tomorrow. I perused the websites of most camps recently and came to some startling conclusions. I'm sure these thoughts apply across numerous industries and markets.

1. Camps are by 'n large completely obsessed with themselves, their development programs and the new lake-front mondo-toy they bought recently.
   
2. Some camps have built beautiful sites and neglected to include directions to their camp property.
   
3. Most sites are brochures online. Interactivity has yet to be discovered.
   

I criticize and admonish because they are my community as well. I was a camp director of Camp Squeah for 18 years and involved with the BC Camping Assocation and Canadian Camping Association in accredation standards development. My goal is to encourage the marketing model of camps to grow with the expanding, multi-dimensional, multi-media scope of their campers. Camps have the very best to offer their campers and need to get past the traditional marketing models they have adopted to get their core messages out.

I posted a list of baseline criteria for camp websites that touches on some of what I have seen missing.

The best camps will allocate resources to social network coordinator positions within their staff structures. Then things will get really fun! And speaking of fun, this popular slideshow addresses these issues, in a somewhat crass but effective way.

What The F**K is Social Media?

View more presentations from Marta Kagan. (tags: socialmediamarketing marketing)

Gmail unplugged!

For all you Gmail account users this is very good news! Now you can use your Gmail account while disconnected! Not to send/receive of course but still, get those notes written, organize messages...
Here's the low-down from Mashable. A great source for 'the latest' buzz. If this kind of info interests you, simplify your research and set up an RSS Feed while you're there, subscribe or even set up a Twitter follow. You'll find the links on the Mashable blog.

Zoomerang

Zoomerang.com Cool survey tool! I'm just finishing up a survey for a client. Very well considered templates and very straight forward interface.

Posted via email from simplify's posterous

Hell's Gate Airtram

“Simon Sees Hell’s Gate” Simon’s been there. Have you? Make your vacation plans now and experience this epic location, the tram ride and the colorful history.

This video helps Hell’s Gate Airtram rank as high as it does with Google. Are you using YouTube to promote your facility, attraction, business or service? Google really likes videos. It’s one of many social media online you can utilize to your benefit. For more info on this have a look here and here.

And be sure to visit Hell’s Gate Airtram this summer. It’s just down the road from where I live, and oh-so-worth-it!

Posted via email from simplify's posterous

Blogs and Blogging

It seems that I have talked about blogs alot lately with people I have met. The video above is a great intro.

What bogs do I read? Besides the blogs of my children and friends who choose blogging to update their friendship circle this very cool way, I am currently following:

• presentationzen.com because there is a world of ugly presentations out there and these ideas make a big difference when you're in front of people.
• squidoocool.com because squidoo is a free, easy way to get information about something you make / are / care about / sell / distribute... onto the internet. And Google likes Squidoo.
• web-strategist.com/blog because I want to know about the latest.
• fluentself.com/blog because Havi writes well, is inspiring and models for me what many bloggers are unable to do. Write in their own distinct voice.
• sethgodin.typepad.com because his name is Seth Godin.

This list changes with some regularity. I'm always looking for sources of info or inspiration that I know will help my clients. I refer heaps of people to various blogs. After all, it's not important that we have all the answers. There is simply too much to know. It is important however, to be the resource. There is a difference.

OLPC Foundation. One year later.

Many of you have heard me talk about the One Laptop per Child Foundation and their unique impact in developing countries. Today is a day (for me) to think about what was important to me one year ago, and to wonder about the things I'll be doing one year from now.

A year ago, I blogged about the OLPC Foundation here. This is what's happening now, one year later.

If you or your organization are looking for a place to donate to, where you know your contribution it will make a significant difference, consider this one. For something closer to home, I recommend Educo Adventure School.

Happy New Year to you!
Make a difference this year. Start with today.

Kimberley, BC branch office

This week The Simplify Company is calling The Bean Tree Cafe in Kimberley, BC home office. Yes, it too, reminds me of my anchor coffee shop, the wildly popular Blue Moose Cafe in Hope, BC.

Yeah, I know, it needs a cool website but judging by its popularity, what difference would it make, really? And that is exactly the question you need to ask yourself if you're considering a website, or a revision for that matter. What's already working for you? Is it sufficient? If not, what difference will the website work make, really. When that question is clearly settled, then talk to someone like me, or me, about a website project. (and I'll ask some more questions...)

So, I left after a morning of email, blog and some work catch-up and returned later in the afternoon. The coffee counter-person wouldn't sell me a cup of coffee insisting; "No, you were here this morning! We have free refills and you shouldn't pay for this coffee." I gratefully accepted and bought an amazingly fresh-backed fruity muffin-type item to go with it. Mmmm. I think I want to relocate to Kimberley.

smiles, rudy

Christmas cold weather fun

Happy Christmas,
from our neighborhood to your's
rudy

SimcoLab, worthwhile work

If a student may not be headed for a successful experience at school and seems eligible to benefit from assistance or intervention they are typically referred to an intervention process involving a 'care' team. Typically at-risk student behaviour is defined as a pattern of missing class, sleeping through class, doing poorly on tests and quizzes, displaying anti-social behaviour, not turning in assignments, missing appointments, possibly indicating serious personal or family problems, displaying addictive behaviours, displaying depression or lack of social connection, etc.

Many school districts are making significant strides in the care and support of students who apparently require assistance. One very progressive school district is working with us to design software to aid in the care and support process of a typical intervention or care team. We've put together a preliminary description on this pdf.

We are, of course, thrilled to work with people who imagine solutions beyond the default drop-down list of their industry. We firmly believe this project will increase the transparency of care teams while tangibly improving the relationship with the students in question and their caregivers. Bottom line = kids will benefit.

How can we be sure? To be perfectly blunt, we can feel it. Everyone on the development team is putting in work beyond the scope of the contract sensing that this is truly worthwhile work. We had a similar feeling when we worked at hi(R)grnd. Making a difference is inspiring and motivating.

I mean, think about it, for a moment...

Image: natural20.net

- - Hi guys,
Just a note about my email address. I appreciate working with you and value the business relationship we have. The contact info that you have for me and my company is intended for use within the parameters of that relationship. Emails that make assumptions far beyond those parameters are a company distraction and do not enhance or add value to your business nor mine. A more suitable platform for communicating ideas that you feel strongly about and want to share with the larger community is perhaps a blog, where vendors, clients, peers and others can choose to read and be involved by commenting or acting on your thoughts. Mine for example, is here.

I prefer that my business email remain my business email. I care passionately about the issue you have raised but do not want to be invited to react via email.

We all run our companies uniquely and I think it’s healthy to continually communicate about what works well as we interact and what doesn’t. For me, this doesn’t. Thx.

Here’s a blog entry from spring when I came across a particularly articulate writer on this topic

Thank you again for your excellent work and I hope you have a great Christmas.
Thanks also for hearing me out,
rudy - -

I was oh-so tempted to send this to the over 200 email addresses in the 'To:' box with a simple "reply all" but realized that was not consistent with the public profile I was going for. I am learning and evolving. This well considered reply is a departure from my longstanding policy of; "Be rude once with modest use of a minor expletive when necessary, and they'll get the hint", because I have come to learn that relationships are worth developing and not disposable. (Good eh?)

Of course, none of this applies to pro-spammers or database driven email broadcasts that rank among the lake-bed detritus where bottom feeders swarm.

How do you respond to unsolicited email that you prefer not to receive? Tell me. Tell me.

Summer Camp and the Internet

I have been invited to present a workshop at the annual BC Camping Association Conference in February. The topic is to be: The Internet and Camping; Good or Bad.

I'm just beginning to put some preliminary thoughts on paper and welecome your perspective on this. What was summer camp like for you? Do cell phones, email access, chat access etc have a place in summer camp?

Tell me what you think. I really want to know. Thx.

Morro Bay branch office

The Simplify Company branch office this week is in Morro Bay, California. When in town, check out the Top Dog Coffee Bar.

What does it take to qualify as a branch office?

• Great location,
• great service
• free wi-fi with electrical outlets nearby
• excellent coffee
• very cool local art on the walls

And, they deliver by 3 wheel bicycle around town.

I thoroughly enjoyed my week in town and a couple of hours per day in the Top Dog Coffee Bar kept me in touch with clients and projects. It was almost as good as the Blue Moose Cafe in Hope BC!

Why I love Hope BC

My friend Kelly was featured in our local paper and said what many of us know but don't put into words very often. We love where we live!

A few years ago a bunch of us got together and decided we wanted to help the Vancouver, Fraser Valley adult population know more about this fantastic geography that we share on the west cost of Canada and formed what is now called Hope Mountain Centre for Outdoor Learning. Kelly is the lead interpreter and trip coordinator for HMCOL and you probably should sign up for one of their events soon. I hear the 2009 schedule is being planned right now.

I flashed the hopebc.ca website screenshot up above to illustrate the Hope BC message but also to draw attention the aerial photo which is actually an interactive map. Wikimapia is easy to use and so much more informative than the photo, which although spectacular, served well but didn't really invite cruising around and zooming in for a closer look at things. See if you can find our favourite coffee shop, the Blue Moose Cafe and the world famous bead store, Beadifferent, run by our friend Carla! Her new website will be up soon.

Come visit us online at hopebc.ca. Better yet, come visit us in Hope! I want introduce you to Kelly.

We're a PBWiki Case Study!

My thanks to PBWiki for choosing to feature The Simplify Company as one of their case studies. I continue to appreciate the versatility and transparency this tool provides to our project management as well as the ongoing innovation at PBWiki. Check it out here.