Category Archives: Internet

Business Internet

Generation Y: Technology Gurus or Smart Asses

March 24, 2009 – 5:22 pm

It has been said that most of Generation-Y thinks they know everything about computers and technology. And although I don’t work in a technology role, I am often called upon by different colleagues to help them solve a computer problem. In most cases, I either know how to solve the problem, or I am able to trouble shoot my way to a solution.In a way these situations make me feel pretty good. But I had to ask myself today, is my generation full of technology gurus? Or are we smart asses who think we know everything about technology because we know how to do a couple of cool things on a PC?To answer my own questions, let’s first look at my technological background (which I would imagine is pretty similar to most college graduates my age):

  • 19 years experience working with computers and software applications
  • 8 years experience managing web-based applications
  • 12 years experience working with Microsoft Office
  • 7 years experience managing my own personal web site
  • 100’s of hours experience managing my reputation online (yes, Facebook counts)

But are we as special as we think we are? My answer would be no, not really. And while others might consider parts of my job very technical (web sites and graphic design), I do not. Each generation coming after us will have at least the same technical understand of computers and software as we do. It comes with growing up and being educated in the era that we did. It is our responsibility to understand technologies and bring them to the workforce. It will help our country improve efficiency.I had a basketball coach once say that if he were able to find a younger player who could do what I could do, as good as I could do it, that he would go with the younger player because he had a greater upside.But is this true in business? No. You can’t possibly learn everything about business without experience beyond technology.We should be weary of believing our upside is so strong that we should be allowed to check Facebook four times a day. We have a lot to learn and gain in experience in terms how to manage relations and how to work with a diverse team with varying size egos.I hope that Generation-Y professionals learn to embrace their computer skills with some humility. (And yes, we are all very talented.) But we must not forget that before long we will be asking our even younger professional colleagues for help with new technologies.

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Blogs Business Internet

Top Stories from a Healthcare Marketer’s Feed Reader

January 12, 2009 – 11:18 pm

Obamas Blackberry, Photo courtesy of Jae C. Hong.

Obama's Blackberry, Photo courtesy of Jae C. Hong.

The following are a few stories from my feed readers that I am following or found interesting over the last couple of days.Google Disputes Harvard Fellow’s Pollution Estimate – CIOInteresting new study released by a Harvard physicist that says Google is responsible for high levels of pollution. Of course when you boil it down, the study includes emissions from personal computers used during search, which in that case it wouldn’t matter who is the search provider. Google maintains they are the greenest major search engine.Useful Tech at CES ’09 – MSNCES stands for consumer electronics show. Check out some of the hottest gadgets in this issue.Web Making You Sick? Help for ‘Cyberchondriacs’ – MSNOne in four people use the Internet to look up health information. This article reviews the strikingly high number of people that actually misdiagnose themselves.Obama’s big idea: Digital health records – CNNEMR, short for Electronic Medical Records is part of Barack Obama’s plan to improve healthcare and decrease costs. Healthcare Administrators worry about the ability to find qualified staff to implement universal EMR systems.Tax Cuts for Teachers – New York TimesThomas Friedman offers a spectacular idea for boosting the economy, finding better teachers and investing in our future. He suggests eliminating federal taxes for teachers as a means of attracting new talent. He also suggests double the salary of highly qualified math and science teachers, as well as offering green cards to exchange students with whom we help subsidize their education.I hoped you like these, if you have any feeds worth checking out, please let me know.

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Where to start with Social Media Marketing Strategy?

January 11, 2009 – 9:53 pm

Where to start with all these social media sites?

Where to start with all these social media sites?

It’s tough to be successful marketing with social media tools without a strategic plan. I ran across a method of helping marketing professionals decide where start their social media marketing plans. It’s called the POST Method. It was derived by social media analysts at Forrester.POST is an acronym, which stands for People, Objectives, Strategy and Technology. To break it down further, below is a list of questions within each category that should help you think about starting a social media marketing plan.People: Who is your audience? Are they online? What do they do online? What influences their decision making? Are they producers, readers, or both? Are there existing communities within your industry?Objectives: What are your goals? Do you want to gain exposure? Do you want to create brand evangelists who will promote your product to passers by? How will you measureyour results?Strategy: What are your key messages? What do you want evangelists to tell passersby? How do you want to change or improve relationships with customers? How can you get the most out new relationships forged?Technology: What resources do you need to connect with customers? Do you want to create an entire community? Do you want to create an application to interact with customers in existing communities? Does your audience listen to podcasts? Watch videos? Read blogs? Or watch presentations?Lots of questions of here to get you started thinking about creating a social media marketing strategy. If you find yourself unable to answer a lot of these questions, support numerous social media relationships and/or execute social media development, it may be best to contact an agency. If you are entirely new to the social media and are a bit overwhelmed or uncomfortable, they best way to learn is to indulge yourself, explore and listen.If you need some more advanced tips, check out this post by Rohit Bhargava.

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