Today I presented on getting the most out of your PC.
The Israel Translation Association works on behalf of the many translators in Israel. They cover all languages and people come from all over for this annual event.
This is my 3rd time speaking at the ITA.
IT people know a new machine is usually the answer when the old one is slow or perceived to be slow. But for some people the price point is not practical and this session was an overview of what one can do to speed up their system.
Windows and Macs were included as well.
This and other slides of mine are available on http://slideshare.net/kbmsg
Speaker, Blogger, Author. Posts about HCL Digital Solutions, HCL Software, Lotus, Management, Collaboration, Competitive Intelligence and Strategy, Productivity, CRM and B2B Marketing.
Showing posts with label israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label israel. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
To Tableau, or Not to Tableau
This was the question I had as I reserved a space at the event held today here in Tel Aviv. I was supposed to go last year but was out of the country at the time.Nice view we had.
Tableau is about data visualization. yes the same stuff we did 30 years ago with 1-2-3 or Excel but smooth, "simple" and flexible to work with many, many forms of data. They went public in 2013 and since have steadily grown in awareness and revenue. Tableau may not have been on everyone's radar but it is showing up more and more.
Dashboards are the low hanging fruit, embedded systems data, advanced analysis and problem-solving once you get some real data views is when the fun starts.
My impression was the event would be a local Business Partner running the event and maybe 25-50 people would show up for an afternoon event between 2 and 5 pm. Which would be great as I wanted time to talk to them about the ecosystem, project work and length and recurring revenue streams.
Oh boy was my thinking wrong!
My estimate, confirmed by the Tableau people, was over 300 people came and it looks like as many as 400 had replied they were coming. And this is in Israel where I have been at full events that barely had 250 people. Interestingly many startups here use it for client reporting and proof that their marketing or advertising or whatever the solution, is working.
If you wonder if this is something you should be looking into, if you haven't already, the answer is definitely yes. London friends they are coming to you June 5-7, register here.
The time was meant to have networking, for the 5, yes that is correct, 5 Israel Business Partners to get time with everyone. Even if I wanted to be a BP, I can't, this year. I don't really understand the thinking, but I was encouraged to apply anyway as they review their partners every year, similar to how SalesForce does it. More on this later in this post.
After networking, we had a quick demo from the UK Sales leader Josh and his Product PreSales specialist Rafi. I say quickly because when speaking in a foreign country, native English speakers should slow down their delivery so everyone can process what is said, and also explain as they go along what they are doing to create the demo. The exuberance Rafi and Josh displayed was great, but I would have preferred a little more explanation about the way she built the views for the demo.
There was a brief slide deck from Laurie as he tried to explain that once you build a dashboard the interested parties can start to really expand on their knowledge and play with it further.
I think there are a little way to go for this part as a non-IT person does not think the same way as tech or data people.
As an example, I, like most of you reading this, understand databases and views, SQL calls and other aspects of databases but because of a lack of education, most end users do not. They can learn, and some do, but many just don't want to learn or change. A problem we all face no matter which solution we choose to use for even basic functions in business.
Thus my impression, given the demo was already seen, is someone would become the guy in the corner that is the Tableau expert rather than many users editing it. That is how I first met a few people in the Lotus Notes world in the R2 days. And I can see people with Tableau interests ending up in the same way.
Great, I love it, let's get started! Well, hold on a second there. It is not so simple.
BUT, there is a "free" public edition here for Windows and Mac and you can read the details.
Ok, so it is limited, but should be enough for us to get our head around how to work with it.
Ready to get going? Try these:
Quick Start in text form for those, like myself, that prefer textual information
Training Videos for those that like visual learning
Long(1 hr) videos on how to via youtube
An amusing example of Data Visualization to help you build your first
There are also various forums and user groups so the community is engaged and even shows how to get Domino to work via REST and ODBC and DB2.
Getting back to the Business Partner discussion, it seems that the expectations are for customers to seek out Tableau partners and work with them on their projects. I can see this as companies move away from training people on new items and prefer to outsource projects. However, I also see it as an internal benefit that should be given proper training to get the most out of it, especially at these prices.
There is a fee to become a partner but once you would be down that path it would be expected.
Coming from the Lotus and IBM Collaboration space my view is tableau is seriously limiting their growth potential by not having options available for consultants or small services teams or even individuals.
Maybe Tableau really does send leads to their BPs around the world from the people that request it from their website. As an end user, this page leaves me wondering what the difference is between the 4 types of partners and why 2 of the options search by country, region, industry, and certifications while the other 2 sort only by region.
Perhaps the same confusion is what leads to the many requests to the Tableauthians (I know, somewhat Star Trek like but not sure what they call themselves) looking for consultants.
I could definitely have used this for past reporting and am looking at using it for some current projects.
How about you?
What are you doing with it?
Tableau is about data visualization. yes the same stuff we did 30 years ago with 1-2-3 or Excel but smooth, "simple" and flexible to work with many, many forms of data. They went public in 2013 and since have steadily grown in awareness and revenue. Tableau may not have been on everyone's radar but it is showing up more and more.
Dashboards are the low hanging fruit, embedded systems data, advanced analysis and problem-solving once you get some real data views is when the fun starts.
My impression was the event would be a local Business Partner running the event and maybe 25-50 people would show up for an afternoon event between 2 and 5 pm. Which would be great as I wanted time to talk to them about the ecosystem, project work and length and recurring revenue streams.
Oh boy was my thinking wrong!
My estimate, confirmed by the Tableau people, was over 300 people came and it looks like as many as 400 had replied they were coming. And this is in Israel where I have been at full events that barely had 250 people. Interestingly many startups here use it for client reporting and proof that their marketing or advertising or whatever the solution, is working.
If you wonder if this is something you should be looking into, if you haven't already, the answer is definitely yes. London friends they are coming to you June 5-7, register here.
The time was meant to have networking, for the 5, yes that is correct, 5 Israel Business Partners to get time with everyone. Even if I wanted to be a BP, I can't, this year. I don't really understand the thinking, but I was encouraged to apply anyway as they review their partners every year, similar to how SalesForce does it. More on this later in this post.
After networking, we had a quick demo from the UK Sales leader Josh and his Product PreSales specialist Rafi. I say quickly because when speaking in a foreign country, native English speakers should slow down their delivery so everyone can process what is said, and also explain as they go along what they are doing to create the demo. The exuberance Rafi and Josh displayed was great, but I would have preferred a little more explanation about the way she built the views for the demo.
There was a brief slide deck from Laurie as he tried to explain that once you build a dashboard the interested parties can start to really expand on their knowledge and play with it further.
I think there are a little way to go for this part as a non-IT person does not think the same way as tech or data people.
As an example, I, like most of you reading this, understand databases and views, SQL calls and other aspects of databases but because of a lack of education, most end users do not. They can learn, and some do, but many just don't want to learn or change. A problem we all face no matter which solution we choose to use for even basic functions in business.
Thus my impression, given the demo was already seen, is someone would become the guy in the corner that is the Tableau expert rather than many users editing it. That is how I first met a few people in the Lotus Notes world in the R2 days. And I can see people with Tableau interests ending up in the same way.
Great, I love it, let's get started! Well, hold on a second there. It is not so simple.
- They have a 14 day(30?) trial period. Not long enough IMHO for your average consultant or corporate person to get their head around it.
- Very pricey options, per user ($999) to get a license to work with it but to save it on a server and not just locally you need Professional ($1,999).
- No developer license or option. Ok, so how do we get it?
- (They have student/teacher Desktop editions)
BUT, there is a "free" public edition here for Windows and Mac and you can read the details.
Ok, so it is limited, but should be enough for us to get our head around how to work with it.
Ready to get going? Try these:
Quick Start in text form for those, like myself, that prefer textual information
Training Videos for those that like visual learning
Long(1 hr) videos on how to via youtube
An amusing example of Data Visualization to help you build your first
There are also various forums and user groups so the community is engaged and even shows how to get Domino to work via REST and ODBC and DB2.
Getting back to the Business Partner discussion, it seems that the expectations are for customers to seek out Tableau partners and work with them on their projects. I can see this as companies move away from training people on new items and prefer to outsource projects. However, I also see it as an internal benefit that should be given proper training to get the most out of it, especially at these prices.
There is a fee to become a partner but once you would be down that path it would be expected.
Coming from the Lotus and IBM Collaboration space my view is tableau is seriously limiting their growth potential by not having options available for consultants or small services teams or even individuals.
Maybe Tableau really does send leads to their BPs around the world from the people that request it from their website. As an end user, this page leaves me wondering what the difference is between the 4 types of partners and why 2 of the options search by country, region, industry, and certifications while the other 2 sort only by region.
Perhaps the same confusion is what leads to the many requests to the Tableauthians (I know, somewhat Star Trek like but not sure what they call themselves) looking for consultants.
I could definitely have used this for past reporting and am looking at using it for some current projects.
How about you?
What are you doing with it?
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Destroying A Business From Within
The other night we went out with 30 of our friends to a new restaurant and bar in our neighborhood for my birthday.
My wife and I ate there a few days earlier and agreed it would work well for our crowd.
All our food arrived but not before two people left to go get burgers down the road after letting the waitress know they were not waiting any longer. I also didn't know this at the time but found out later.
It was at this moment that I must claim ignorance. I was not involved in the other conversation that started between my wife, or the few friends still lingering and the hostess/waitress.
My friends, a mixed group of Americans and Israelis were not very happy with the entire situation. They wanted to post bad Yelp reviews, wanted to tell our whole community about the way we were treated, and do what people do most with social media, gripe. Before you say, "but you are doing just that", my hope is that the owner will see this, but also to parallel it with our own business situations.
Our bill which was about 3,000 shekels or about $750 got me thinking about the business side of this situation and what everyone can learn from it.
In short, there is quite a bit of revenue that the restaurant loses out because they:
Similarly we have no idea who is at a table or in an audience, on the train or randomly walking by us when we are unhappy about a situation at work or with a client. It may cost us our jobs or our bonuses or future jobs at the time.
By not engaging with the clients in a reasonable fashion and laying blame on them, you can see how service contracts go bad in businesses so easily when vendors take a one sided view.
When your focus is on the wrong information, attitude or goals, your business can not survive because you send your staff down rabbit holes that have no way out.
My wife and I ate there a few days earlier and agreed it would work well for our crowd.
Who knew one can make so many friends in two and half years of moving here but we did!
While we don't always get together regularly, we do get together for drinks or late night food between 2 and 4 times a month in smaller groups and maybe once a month in a bigger way for a party or birthday.
Why do I tell you this?
Because this blog post is a lesson that any business can live or die by its management and staff. Along the way see how sales, social media, personalities, business expectations, training, psychology, and in my case, ignorance all come into play.
As we all arrived at the restaurant, we had made a reservation for 18, then changed it to 25 and the restaurant had made space in their back room for us which we proceeded to fill.
The locals and friends from neighboring cities proceeded to order drinks and food or desserts.
The people at our table ordered first and most of us got our food and drinks in a reasonable time. But, a specific dish with 4 of us had ordered, seemed to not be coming. While I did not mind, some of the more hungry guests were not amused and asked when we would get our food.
We learned that there was only one appliance to use to make this particular meal and it would take some time as now there were 8 total orders of the same item. It did not help that the other waitresses grabbed whatever was ready and delivered it to their tables without realizing or noticing the early ones should have gone to us.
Again, not the biggest deal to me.
It seems at some point some people had words with the hostess who explained that the restaurant was not prepared for such a large group. For a place that has existed for a few years and has an ample seating space outside and inside to accommodate at least 100-125 people, this was an unexpected answer. I did not find this out until later that night or the next day.
All our food arrived but not before two people left to go get burgers down the road after letting the waitress know they were not waiting any longer. I also didn't know this at the time but found out later.
Thus about 2 hours later as the party was ending and people started to pay their bills, I went to go pay for ours as well.
And the fun began.
I let the waitress know what my wife and I ordered and paid the bill and thinking we were the last ones we should head home.
Not so fast.
There was an amount due.
Okay, I figured some people drank shots or maybe didn't realize their spouses did, so I figured, my party, I can cover it, right? It turns out we were short about 600 shekels or roughly $150!
Now I know my friends here and trust them to be both honest and full of integrity, even when drinking, so I asked to see the full bill receipt. I then sat down to go over everything listed and asked them to verify the payments received.
It was at this moment that I must claim ignorance. I was not involved in the other conversation that started between my wife, or the few friends still lingering and the hostess/waitress.
It seems that the choice of words, this is all in Hebrew, was accusatory and rather indignant that our friends skipped off without paying. No, it could not be the restaurant's error, everything is on the computer and what were we trying to pull.
Reminding any of you of client meetings over billing hours yet?
I eventually found out that the meal, I and 7 others ordered, had been entered into the computer as 18, not 8, orders!
Simple math 10 x 60 = 600. The actual numbers came out and showed that my drinks were paid for by my friends, which is usually how we all do it for birthdays so I, in essence, received a small amount of money in a refund. Thanks everyone!
The management, hostess, and waitress provided no explanation nor any apology.
Culturally I understand this and it didn't bother me at the time, again, because all I knew was I found the error, they fixed it and all was good.
My friends, a mixed group of Americans and Israelis were not very happy with the entire situation. They wanted to post bad Yelp reviews, wanted to tell our whole community about the way we were treated, and do what people do most with social media, gripe. Before you say, "but you are doing just that", my hope is that the owner will see this, but also to parallel it with our own business situations.
Our bill which was about 3,000 shekels or about $750 got me thinking about the business side of this situation and what everyone can learn from it.
Yes some of it is obvious, but as a case study in hospitality management, here we go.
My friends go out quite a bit as I said, many of us either run our own business or, at our age, are high-level sales people or managers. We have money to spend when we want to go out.
Some of us have small invitation events for artists or non profit benefits during the year that we need a nice, and new, place to invite people. And as a business lunch option, this could work too.
In short, there is quite a bit of revenue that the restaurant loses out because they:
- did not train their staff properly
- did not have any buy-in from the staff to benefit the business or themselves
- did not recognize that the issue was on their side and although they backed their own people initially, should have admitted the mistake
- will not see any more birthday parties and with 30 people, even if only half went there, that is over 40,000 shekels a year they are losing
- and the waitresses miss out on a guaranteed $75 in tips or more which knowing what they get paid, they really need
- have now also cut themselves off from a very social media and referral network of people that could have sent them dozens and dozens of people
- lost out on our weekly get together which while only 2-6 of us might show up, still would be a recurring revenue stream they were lacking
I don't think it is a stretch to say that if we all liked it and told other friends our combined spend reaches 75-100,000 shekels a year. 10% of their revenue to me sounds like a big deal based on what I read.
Similarly we have no idea who is at a table or in an audience, on the train or randomly walking by us when we are unhappy about a situation at work or with a client. It may cost us our jobs or our bonuses or future jobs at the time.
This is a tough thing to overcome because trust once lost is very hard to regain, especially in this case where we would have no other interaction with the establishment.
The restaurant could have filled a void for us that we need in our community, a kosher bar and restaurant, and had high hopes for it but it seems they do not share our hopes or have any interest in filling our needs.
By not engaging with the clients in a reasonable fashion and laying blame on them, you can see how service contracts go bad in businesses so easily when vendors take a one sided view.
This one sided view is "taught" to the staff because they will naturally be influenced and then follow their leader.
My friends, like you reading this out there, have various expectations about dining out.
Some want value for their money, others want high end cuisine, some expect the staff to be as professional as business people (hard to ask from teenagers or even college age people), others are okay with waiting if they have were warned about delays or like me not bothered about it all.
The Snickers commercials in the US hit the spot on this one from both sides of this discussion because maybe it was all just late at night and everyone was hungry.
When your focus is on the wrong information, attitude or goals, your business can not survive because you send your staff down rabbit holes that have no way out.
It may also help to deliver the goods or services on time and feed your staff and customers within reasonable times.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Did You Get the New Google Logo T-Shirt?
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Casual Connect conference here in Tel Aviv. For those that don't know, Casual Connect is in the words of the website:
Having only slightly worked in the industry it was a chance to look into the minds and ideas around people that give corporate enterprises zero thought. Everything, and everyone, was hyper focused on the consumer and of course gaming or gambling games.
One of the things we received in our conference bags was what looked like a long bookmark and it had a Google logo on it and said to stop by the Google stand and pick up the new logo t-shirt. How could I resist, so in the name of research off I went to find Google.
They had a stand made out of large LEGO pieces with a fountain of marshmallows in the middle. perfect for the event. They had on hand people to help you with Adwords and other advertising aspects of the great Googleverse.
I stepped up and asked about the t-shirt. The woman at the stand said I needed to trade the bookmark for a shirt. Being an avid reader of physical paper books I asked if I could keep the bookmark, after all doesn't Google care about education? Nope, you must swap the bookmark for the shirt.
This reminded me of years ago when I worked on Broadway and the box office was charged per cup used and verified by how many drinks were ordered or served. Seemed like a poor way to manage the kiosk then, and this was not much more insightful.
I acquiesced and did the swap and then waited for the barcode scanner or a verification of my name or business card, they didn't ask for one. This got me thinking, was Google really all knowing that they knew who everyone was? Maybe they were getting the entire attendee list so it did not matter if they knew I picked up a shirt or not.
Maybe, this being Google, they were playing a math game. How many bookmarks were "delivered" to attendees, how many were returned for a shirt and how many shirts were actually given out. Like my Broadway kiosk seemed like trust was a factor, but for whom?
Why would Google waste time, resources, and money just to go to a conference which really was about the back office efforts of the gaming industry? If they really wanted to get their new logo and shirt out to the world they would have been better off at one of the main train stations down the road.
Could Google have been gaming the attendees? Was it an inside joke to see how any shirts could be given away without actually doing anything else? Were the shirts just leftovers from the recent rebranding exercise?
Maybe Google has gotten so big, the underlings just don't care, or know enough, because their own managers have no clue about business and how or why leads like this are important. Or maybe, because they are Google and literally see all our searches, posts and data that anytime they need leads they just do some SQL search on their raw data.
I don't know the answer. It was funny given how many people at the event were all about eyeballs and retention and while this gets eyeballs, not sure about retention.
Was it a waste of money for them? Is branding really important when you are Google? Is it because people don't want to be seen with a vintage shirt but a new modern version and Google was just playing with us?
I got a shirt, and a book called 'The Secret To App Success on Google Play" (pdf version) from Google, not sure what they got from me aside from this post.
Casual Connect Tel Aviv is about matching the creativity of the games industry with new media innovation and investment to find the next big thing for the games industry. Tel Aviv is a fun and beautiful city filled with history, culture and representing the forefront of the burgeoning games industry.I had volunteered to record the sessions and was given the last day of the event's marketing track, and a free pass to the show.
Having only slightly worked in the industry it was a chance to look into the minds and ideas around people that give corporate enterprises zero thought. Everything, and everyone, was hyper focused on the consumer and of course gaming or gambling games.
One of the things we received in our conference bags was what looked like a long bookmark and it had a Google logo on it and said to stop by the Google stand and pick up the new logo t-shirt. How could I resist, so in the name of research off I went to find Google.
They had a stand made out of large LEGO pieces with a fountain of marshmallows in the middle. perfect for the event. They had on hand people to help you with Adwords and other advertising aspects of the great Googleverse.
I stepped up and asked about the t-shirt. The woman at the stand said I needed to trade the bookmark for a shirt. Being an avid reader of physical paper books I asked if I could keep the bookmark, after all doesn't Google care about education? Nope, you must swap the bookmark for the shirt.
This reminded me of years ago when I worked on Broadway and the box office was charged per cup used and verified by how many drinks were ordered or served. Seemed like a poor way to manage the kiosk then, and this was not much more insightful.
I acquiesced and did the swap and then waited for the barcode scanner or a verification of my name or business card, they didn't ask for one. This got me thinking, was Google really all knowing that they knew who everyone was? Maybe they were getting the entire attendee list so it did not matter if they knew I picked up a shirt or not.
Maybe, this being Google, they were playing a math game. How many bookmarks were "delivered" to attendees, how many were returned for a shirt and how many shirts were actually given out. Like my Broadway kiosk seemed like trust was a factor, but for whom?
Why would Google waste time, resources, and money just to go to a conference which really was about the back office efforts of the gaming industry? If they really wanted to get their new logo and shirt out to the world they would have been better off at one of the main train stations down the road.
Could Google have been gaming the attendees? Was it an inside joke to see how any shirts could be given away without actually doing anything else? Were the shirts just leftovers from the recent rebranding exercise?
Maybe Google has gotten so big, the underlings just don't care, or know enough, because their own managers have no clue about business and how or why leads like this are important. Or maybe, because they are Google and literally see all our searches, posts and data that anytime they need leads they just do some SQL search on their raw data.
I don't know the answer. It was funny given how many people at the event were all about eyeballs and retention and while this gets eyeballs, not sure about retention.
Was it a waste of money for them? Is branding really important when you are Google? Is it because people don't want to be seen with a vintage shirt but a new modern version and Google was just playing with us?
I got a shirt, and a book called 'The Secret To App Success on Google Play" (pdf version) from Google, not sure what they got from me aside from this post.
Friday, May 15, 2015
Breaking Out of The Bubble
What an amazing day I had yesterday! So full of life and learning, every day of work should be this great!
How did it get to be this way? What did I do? Who did I meet? Where was I?
My day started out like any other day, get up, wake up the kids, walk the dog, drop the kids off at school and then head East for about 15 minutes to the nearby city of Modiin. Modiin is about 10 km east of Ben Gurion Airport, 35 km southeast of Tel Aviv and about 30 km west of Jerusalem and 20km from Rehovot where I live.
In Modiin some people I know set up a shared work space called MESH, the Modiin Entrepreneurs Startup Hub. There are hubs like this across the country. If you have never been to one, they are a reasonably inexpensive way to get work done outside your house. You get the basics included like network and wifi, desks, chairs, open spaces and offices, meeting rooms, printers and a fax (don't ask, but many things here need it)and drinks. There is even an onsite chef who makes lunches for those who want to pay for it.
I headed out to MESH for 4 reasons. First, having never been to it I wanted to see what it was like as each of these work spaces are very different form each other. Second, to see and meet my friend Daniel about an idea I had for camp for the kids. Third to catch up and listen to my friend Alan Weinkrantz a fellow technology evangelist who works with RackSpace, that I met early on when we moved here. Alan was having a breakfast discussion on PR for startups, his slides are here, I love slide #6, Above The Code: 10 Principles of Startup Communications. Lastly I wanted to see, and hear, what other people, there are about 30 companies there, are doing and thinking about as ideas work better when you collaborate with others and gain insights form them.
If you read Alan's slides, (you did right?) you would see that PR is a process which can be enhanced by having content accessible for your business. The focus was on blogging which many startups do not get around to doing for many reasons (an upcoming blog post). I volunteered, to those gathered, that this blog is just about to reach 1,000 posts and discussed how it has helped me, and others, in business.Someone asked how often they should be updating their website. I pointed out that if your blog is posted to your homepage, and your website, you are updating the site automatically. SEO problem partially solved. Thanks Alan for reminding me why I blog and to get back on track.
After the discussion, Alan gave out the gapingvoid t-Shirts which everyone wants to have, and we posed for his scrapbook.
Yes, I got the t-shirt but also had some great discussions. While comparing marketing and developers with user specs and needs I suggested CRM apps suck because who wants to fill in dozens of fields when it should be a 2 or 3 field entry and finished. That discussion led to my tweeting another friend, Jon Ferrara of GoldMine fame and now CEO of Nimble. Jon and I occasionally get into deeper CRM discussions and while I really like Nimble, I do not use/need a CRM right now. I really recommend everyone look at what he is building at Nimble. Anyway, Jon agreed that the app should scour the Internet for what you need and not make you do all the work and reminded me that Goldmine was the first to populate fields for you when you entered your zip code.
Note to startups, why could we do this 25 years ago and you can't do it now? A small thing to a user maybe a big thing to a developer but it tells me the UX may not be so great. Hey it's my M&Ms tell.
Looking around the room I could see some business opportunities with everyone that are outside their comfort zones and more in mine and so a side business may get started.
My discussion with my friend Daniel and some others at MESH about camp was interesting and while it may not be feasible for this summer, I think we will do it for next year. More on this at a later time.
MESH is a great place, happy to see it was not as claustrophobic as some of the work spaces in Tel Aviv I have visited. If I had some clients there or in the nearby area, I can see working out of their spaces more regularly. The interaction everyone has makes the 30 companies feel like one big company with many divisions. While many are developers, there are sales and marketing people too and a mix of global, local, profit and non-profit companies. This is probably the one thing I miss working remotely, the open discussions that just happen and people join in. Skype chats and Twitter threads are good, but I don't always get the same excitement feelings.
After MESH I went by to see an old friend of mine from college that I found out moved here 8 years ago and since she is not a tech person basically was out of site for a long time. It was a Facebook post that we were both "Look! It's you!". Since moving here this happens quite a bit, so many people from my ancient history are here and I will get to see you all one of these days.
Went home, picked up the kids from school, they are done at 1:45 and started to catch up on emails and messages. I saw two different emails returned with good news for me. One was to meet with a company that might need my advice and the other a conference owner which I hope to help out with as an IBM Champion effort.
While I had a bunch of work to do in the afternoon and watch over a server migration at night, we had time to get out and party with our friends over bbq and drinks, which is really how every day should end.
How was your day?
How did it get to be this way? What did I do? Who did I meet? Where was I?
My day started out like any other day, get up, wake up the kids, walk the dog, drop the kids off at school and then head East for about 15 minutes to the nearby city of Modiin. Modiin is about 10 km east of Ben Gurion Airport, 35 km southeast of Tel Aviv and about 30 km west of Jerusalem and 20km from Rehovot where I live.
In Modiin some people I know set up a shared work space called MESH, the Modiin Entrepreneurs Startup Hub. There are hubs like this across the country. If you have never been to one, they are a reasonably inexpensive way to get work done outside your house. You get the basics included like network and wifi, desks, chairs, open spaces and offices, meeting rooms, printers and a fax (don't ask, but many things here need it)and drinks. There is even an onsite chef who makes lunches for those who want to pay for it.
I headed out to MESH for 4 reasons. First, having never been to it I wanted to see what it was like as each of these work spaces are very different form each other. Second, to see and meet my friend Daniel about an idea I had for camp for the kids. Third to catch up and listen to my friend Alan Weinkrantz a fellow technology evangelist who works with RackSpace, that I met early on when we moved here. Alan was having a breakfast discussion on PR for startups, his slides are here, I love slide #6, Above The Code: 10 Principles of Startup Communications. Lastly I wanted to see, and hear, what other people, there are about 30 companies there, are doing and thinking about as ideas work better when you collaborate with others and gain insights form them.
If you read Alan's slides, (you did right?) you would see that PR is a process which can be enhanced by having content accessible for your business. The focus was on blogging which many startups do not get around to doing for many reasons (an upcoming blog post). I volunteered, to those gathered, that this blog is just about to reach 1,000 posts and discussed how it has helped me, and others, in business.Someone asked how often they should be updating their website. I pointed out that if your blog is posted to your homepage, and your website, you are updating the site automatically. SEO problem partially solved. Thanks Alan for reminding me why I blog and to get back on track.
After the discussion, Alan gave out the gapingvoid t-Shirts which everyone wants to have, and we posed for his scrapbook.
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| Me and some of the MESH Startups |
Note to startups, why could we do this 25 years ago and you can't do it now? A small thing to a user maybe a big thing to a developer but it tells me the UX may not be so great. Hey it's my M&Ms tell.
Looking around the room I could see some business opportunities with everyone that are outside their comfort zones and more in mine and so a side business may get started.
My discussion with my friend Daniel and some others at MESH about camp was interesting and while it may not be feasible for this summer, I think we will do it for next year. More on this at a later time.
MESH is a great place, happy to see it was not as claustrophobic as some of the work spaces in Tel Aviv I have visited. If I had some clients there or in the nearby area, I can see working out of their spaces more regularly. The interaction everyone has makes the 30 companies feel like one big company with many divisions. While many are developers, there are sales and marketing people too and a mix of global, local, profit and non-profit companies. This is probably the one thing I miss working remotely, the open discussions that just happen and people join in. Skype chats and Twitter threads are good, but I don't always get the same excitement feelings.
After MESH I went by to see an old friend of mine from college that I found out moved here 8 years ago and since she is not a tech person basically was out of site for a long time. It was a Facebook post that we were both "Look! It's you!". Since moving here this happens quite a bit, so many people from my ancient history are here and I will get to see you all one of these days.
Went home, picked up the kids from school, they are done at 1:45 and started to catch up on emails and messages. I saw two different emails returned with good news for me. One was to meet with a company that might need my advice and the other a conference owner which I hope to help out with as an IBM Champion effort.
While I had a bunch of work to do in the afternoon and watch over a server migration at night, we had time to get out and party with our friends over bbq and drinks, which is really how every day should end.
How was your day?
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Hey Politicians, There is this thing called the Internet
Where we live there is a newspaper, in print, that is free and is very pro the current government.
I say good for them if they can keep it going on dwindling advertising revenue, or the owner is some wealthy patron who feels the need to lose some money, either way, what is the problem?
The problem is some government officials think this is propaganda with the aim of helping the existing government officials stay in office and should be treated accordingly. They are trying to pass a law that newspapers must charge money. Huh? And the cheapest one can be no less than 70% of the cost of the 2nd largest newspaper. Double huh? One article about it.
Not sure how they expect to also close the thousands of websites or blogs or whatever Twitter accounts that do the exact same thing.
There is nothing more important, education? nope. Military? Nope. Diseases? Nope. Drugs? Nope. A newspaper.
Evidently these government officials all went to the same school, the one from 30+ years ago and have not bothered to come out and see how the world has evolved.
Social media here, oddly enough, has had little to discuss about this and it makes me wonder if at some point when the government or your boss, has had enough of your blog posts, they will come for you too.
I say good for them if they can keep it going on dwindling advertising revenue, or the owner is some wealthy patron who feels the need to lose some money, either way, what is the problem?
The problem is some government officials think this is propaganda with the aim of helping the existing government officials stay in office and should be treated accordingly. They are trying to pass a law that newspapers must charge money. Huh? And the cheapest one can be no less than 70% of the cost of the 2nd largest newspaper. Double huh? One article about it.
Not sure how they expect to also close the thousands of websites or blogs or whatever Twitter accounts that do the exact same thing.
There is nothing more important, education? nope. Military? Nope. Diseases? Nope. Drugs? Nope. A newspaper.
Evidently these government officials all went to the same school, the one from 30+ years ago and have not bothered to come out and see how the world has evolved.
“This creates a difficult precedent. A parliament can never close a media source in a democracy – only the market can close them. This (law) is playing with fire”
Very sad that in an age of transparency and openness, they lack the vision to see what is in front of them, namely an opportunity, on a grander scale, to work differently, act differently and provide new courses of action.
Social media here, oddly enough, has had little to discuss about this and it makes me wonder if at some point when the government or your boss, has had enough of your blog posts, they will come for you too.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Niche SEO Worked for Us
We ended up here, didn't we because of SEO?
This is the revelation that occurred to me recently when looking at how we ended up in a city in Israel that is not on most people's vacation itinerary. Rehovot was the home of Ubique, a little company IBM bought to include inside their Sametime offering. They still retain offices here for Sametime development.
Many people spend tons of money to increase their exposure and search ranks which boils down to SEO methods that are a mix of data analytics, black arts, html coding, content writing, luck, algorithms and Google's daily whims.
People ask why we moved here and it is because when we searched for qualities of life that were important to us and our family, Rehovot kept coming up in our searches. Neither my wife, nor I, had been to Rehovot in the 9+ years we had previously lived in Israel. Now with kids, we wanted good schools, welcoming community, arts, sciences, location, transportation and other not unusual items.
About a year or two ago, an influential website, Nefesh B'Nefesh, literally translated as a soul for a soul, helps people making Aliyah to Israel. They added and updated some cities and areas for people to move to in Israel and one was Rehovot.
Naturally we did not just rely on this one site, but what we did not realize then was the bigger puzzle. People in Rehovot had started to make some websites, in English, for other people looking to move here. It was grass roots, but sometimes your niche is a niche within a niche and in this case it works.
What were we searching for, and found? Here is a partial list:
Most people know of Tel Aviv, Haifa and of course Jerusalem which all have benefits to living there (and IBM offices). When you did deeper and find out eBay, Google, Facebook and many others are in the Netanya/Ra'anana/Herziliya areas but I livedin Manhattan and London, and Jerusalem twice, to know I wanted to live in a more relaxed part of the country that my kids can grow up and enjoy the fields and parks, not just the nightlife.
If I was looking for a place to build solar powered hovercrafts this may not be the best location, compared to say gene splicing to help people become more collaborative instead of selfishly silo like which friends of ours work on at Weizmann.
What we all want is out there and your product or idea has a place on the internet and it is up to you to decide if the market is large enough for you.
The synagogue we belong to is the only one on the area that is growing and while 15 new families over the last year have moved here. The number may sound small to some of you, but historically 1-3 families moved to Rehovot a year. That is some serious growth!
The ripple effect of this growth, coupled by exterior influences, like growing anti-semitism across Europe and the US, has led to an increase in housing costs as more people look to purchase property. Various city events and services are being expanded as well to accommodate the foreign immigration.
SEO doesn't solve or provide all of your leads or growth, but sometimes a little bit here and there is all you need.
This is the revelation that occurred to me recently when looking at how we ended up in a city in Israel that is not on most people's vacation itinerary. Rehovot was the home of Ubique, a little company IBM bought to include inside their Sametime offering. They still retain offices here for Sametime development.
Many people spend tons of money to increase their exposure and search ranks which boils down to SEO methods that are a mix of data analytics, black arts, html coding, content writing, luck, algorithms and Google's daily whims.
People ask why we moved here and it is because when we searched for qualities of life that were important to us and our family, Rehovot kept coming up in our searches. Neither my wife, nor I, had been to Rehovot in the 9+ years we had previously lived in Israel. Now with kids, we wanted good schools, welcoming community, arts, sciences, location, transportation and other not unusual items.
About a year or two ago, an influential website, Nefesh B'Nefesh, literally translated as a soul for a soul, helps people making Aliyah to Israel. They added and updated some cities and areas for people to move to in Israel and one was Rehovot.
Naturally we did not just rely on this one site, but what we did not realize then was the bigger puzzle. People in Rehovot had started to make some websites, in English, for other people looking to move here. It was grass roots, but sometimes your niche is a niche within a niche and in this case it works.
What were we searching for, and found? Here is a partial list:
- Industrial Park filled with startups and established companies
- a synagogue that is mixed with Israeli, US, European, South African and Australian members
- some of the top elementary and high schools in the country
- reasonable living conditions and costs
- local train station accessible
- weather similar to Boca Raton
Most people know of Tel Aviv, Haifa and of course Jerusalem which all have benefits to living there (and IBM offices). When you did deeper and find out eBay, Google, Facebook and many others are in the Netanya/Ra'anana/Herziliya areas but I livedin Manhattan and London, and Jerusalem twice, to know I wanted to live in a more relaxed part of the country that my kids can grow up and enjoy the fields and parks, not just the nightlife.
If I was looking for a place to build solar powered hovercrafts this may not be the best location, compared to say gene splicing to help people become more collaborative instead of selfishly silo like which friends of ours work on at Weizmann.
What we all want is out there and your product or idea has a place on the internet and it is up to you to decide if the market is large enough for you.
The synagogue we belong to is the only one on the area that is growing and while 15 new families over the last year have moved here. The number may sound small to some of you, but historically 1-3 families moved to Rehovot a year. That is some serious growth!
The ripple effect of this growth, coupled by exterior influences, like growing anti-semitism across Europe and the US, has led to an increase in housing costs as more people look to purchase property. Various city events and services are being expanded as well to accommodate the foreign immigration.
SEO doesn't solve or provide all of your leads or growth, but sometimes a little bit here and there is all you need.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Next Stop, Israel
Yes, I gave it all away in the title of this post.
For the rest of you that clicked through to read about this topic, let me start with this story. This quite possibly may be my longest blog post I ever write. You have been warned.
Why now? I am amused how if we were moving back to London, or any other place, it would not be a big deal to most people. But you mention Israel, and people go crazy suddenly. Left, right, center, right field, we heard from all of you, and we appreciate everyone's wishes of luck, prayers and assistance.
For those that ask how can I go to Israel at a time like this? Don't I care about my family? My answer usually is to repeat the story above that started this blog post. And then add, have you read the papers and watched the news lately? Maybe we are not the crazy ones for going after all?
For the rest of you that clicked through to read about this topic, let me start with this story. This quite possibly may be my longest blog post I ever write. You have been warned.
Around 1994 or 1995 I was managing Citibank's Latin American Lotus Notes network. I visited numerous countries there and checked on our cc:Mail, Notes and OpenMail installations and personnel.
One trip scheduled was to Bogota, Colombia. In those years it was common, at least in Miami, to read about kidnappings and ransom notes, sometimes murders, by the drug cartels in Bogota. Nonetheless, I looked forward to going. My family and friends were not very happy, but having already been entangled with the military in the Dominican Republic, I figured this could not be so bad (ask me sometime over drinks if you want to know details about it). Besides, Citibank wouldn't let me go to a risky location, right?
Off I went. Bogota, by the way, is a beautiful city should you ever get there to visit. I spent shabbat down there and got my work done. While sitting with the team, they all asked me what it was like to live in such a war torn place like Miami. You see, in their papers, they only heard about the drug killings, the murdered tourists, the poverty and how brave I was to live there. When I inquired about what I "knew" about Bogota, they laughed and said, sure it happens, if you hang out in certain areas or with certain people. Funny right? There's more.
I returned home to my family and friends and went to the office the next day. I went to my manager at the time and asked for vacation time for Passover, I was going to in Israel and would need about 10 days. After letting me know that the vacation was approved, he said to me, how can you go over there with their bus bombings and some other events that had occurred. After looking at him for a few seconds I smiled and said, funny that's what the Bogota team asked me about Miami.
Why do I tell you this story from 20 or so years ago? Because some things never change.
The views one has tend to come from our education, our parents, our geographical locations, our experiences, what we read, what we hear and for some, what we experience.
Whether or not you agree with the Israeli side or the people of Gaza's side, you have an opinion, so do I, try to be truthful and respectful.
One of the things, I hope, that helped me become an IBM Champion, is my drive to not back down from a competitive discussion and led me to my numerous FudBuster Friday posts. If you want to be biased or bigoted, at least have proper arguments and present the truth. I am not going to spend time on this blog about what is true, or not, regarding the situation in Israel. My other social media efforts push some of that information. What I am going to try to explain is why my family and I are moving to Israel, and why now after all these years.
Many of you know I previously worked for Lotus EMEA, prior to that I was in Israel from 1996-1998. I was working, even back then, remotely for US clients and did some high level advisory in Israel. I met some great people, some I still see regularly online and in person at the annual conference previously called Lotusphere, now called ConnectED, in Orlando in January.
I left Israel in 1998 at the request of Lotus to work on the European continent. However, I ended up on a large island and lived in London. If they would have let me work from Israel, which given the road warrior traveling I did for Lotus those years, I would probably still be working for IBM today, and still be in Israel today.
When I left IBM in 2001, weeks before 9/11, I wanted to return to Israel, but my wife wanted to come to Boca Raton. I lost the battle, as they say, but in the end, I won the war. When my wife said to me about 2 years ago she was ready to go back, I would have booked it then. But there are many things to be worked out, for me, her, the kids....the dog, that we eventually settled on this summer.
Why? I get asked this frequently these days. Why now? I get asked daily right now.
If you really know me, the question should be, WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!
Why now? I am amused how if we were moving back to London, or any other place, it would not be a big deal to most people. But you mention Israel, and people go crazy suddenly. Left, right, center, right field, we heard from all of you, and we appreciate everyone's wishes of luck, prayers and assistance.
For those that ask how can I go to Israel at a time like this? Don't I care about my family? My answer usually is to repeat the story above that started this blog post. And then add, have you read the papers and watched the news lately? Maybe we are not the crazy ones for going after all?
You might say those are real rockets they are shooting. This is true, sadly the area within 1-2 miles of Gaza gets about 50% of the rockets. The US Iron Dome system, patented and owned by the US, which Israel helped develop and is actively testing, has blocked about 40% of the rockets reaching deeper into Israel. Still not perfect, that is a lot of misses, but better odds than without the system.
Israel has long been building residences with safe rooms and bunkers in buildings to protect their people from those that, for whatever reason, can not live peacefully next to it. I have always preferred to know the bad upfront, so the rest is all great. When you walk down the street, do you think about how many people are carrying guns? Do you worry while your kids are in school that some crazy friend of theirs is going to hunt them down? Do you not shop in "those areas" because it wouldn't be safe for you to do so? Yes, there are scary events everywhere, the world is just not a safe place sadly.
Israel has long been building residences with safe rooms and bunkers in buildings to protect their people from those that, for whatever reason, can not live peacefully next to it. I have always preferred to know the bad upfront, so the rest is all great. When you walk down the street, do you think about how many people are carrying guns? Do you worry while your kids are in school that some crazy friend of theirs is going to hunt them down? Do you not shop in "those areas" because it wouldn't be safe for you to do so? Yes, there are scary events everywhere, the world is just not a safe place sadly.
Walking the streets of Israel, the Israeli army is there to protect you, the citizen or visitor, not just the government people. Almost everyone you see in Israel wore that uniform, many still do, even 20 years afterwards. They serve not to support a military dictatorship, but a free democracy that not only has Jews, Christians, Moslems and numerous other religions inside it, but also protect some of the holiest places known to the world. The army in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and numerous other places could not understand the Israeli army mentality nor how it is there for us and with us.
My kids will eventually go into the Israeli army. Whatever role they choose in it, I will support them. But understand this, it is not just one family, it is an entire country that joins with them. The Talmud (Shevuot 39a), says, Kol yisrael arevim zeh bazeh, meaning all of Israel are responsible for each other. When one soldier dies, the country as a whole mourns. I have heard it said there is no family in Israel that has not lost a relative to the wars, battles or terrorism. My family lost relatives in the 1973 war.
When your kids are in Israel, even strangers will watch out for them and protect them if something happens because everyone is responsible for each other.
This is true collaboration. When you can step away from being a separatist, or an independent or living in you own little silo of a home, and help everyone else out there, you have found your way in life.
When you can put your faith or feelings into someone else's situation, not just in times of trouble, but every day, you can feel some of what I feel, when I am in Israel.The sense of unity, working as one, even while we may disagree about politics or religion or sports. This post from yesterday put it quite well. While our friends and neighbors mirror these views, on a larger community or even city, state or national level, we have a long way to go in the US.
My kids in America, aged 12, 10, and 7 could never walk just 2-3 blocks to get ice cream from a shop alone. In Israel, kids 5 years old do it all the time. I make my kids at least go in pairs, I have some worries and responsibilities as a parent. But the people on the street or at the shop watch out for my kids, just as much as I watch out for theirs. None of us may know anyone's kids, but we all feel that responsibility should something just not seem right. Some of you in smaller turns or rural areas probably understand this better than city dwellers.
My work day will be longer, in order to support US times, my work week will also be shorter, since Friday for me will mean minimal US interaction by the time Shabbat starts. My holidays will have greater meaning in Israel for me and my kids. All the work I did in teaching them the last 2 years, and their various teachers before me, will come to fruition as they experience the good, and the bad, of events from the Bible, and see it play out in real life today.
Are they scared? Sure, but they also have hope and are excited to go on this journey. Since they have not been there before, while my wife lived there for 7 years and I did for 3, they are just starting to understand it is not all desert and tents. Modern technology has also made it much easier for friends and family to stay in touch which should help them as well.
They want to "adopt" a lone soldier, one that is serving in the army and has no immediate family or home in Israel. I have known a few people that were those soldiers and we look forward to helping them once we get settled.
My kids are lucky, we spent a summer living in London, we spent a December too. They experienced things they never would in Boca Raton. My children will have even more experiences from living in Israel that will influence their view of the world.
Some people want to change the world, I want to help my kids do it by helping Israel grow and flourish.
Today is Tisha B'Av, the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av, and a fast day.
This day has had so many bad things happen to the Jewish people over the millenia it is amazing we survived all this time. Because one is not supposed to travel or conduct business on this day, we will be departing from Boca Raton on August 6.
Our journey, 2 adults, 3 kids, and 1 dog in a van with about 15 suitcases and duffel bags will be making our way driving from Florida to New York. We will pass through Georgia and spend the night in Manning, South Carolina as our first stop. It is not the scenic route, just the I-95 one.
We then make a dash to reach Silver Spring, Maryland for Thursday night and spend it with friends after a stop in Richmond, Virginia for Lunch.
Friday we head to the Big Apple, New York City where we will return our van to Honda and spend Shabbat in Woodmere with a neighbor of one of my college friends. These people do not even know us yet, but have been gracious enough to let us stay with them through Monday morning when we head to JFK for our flight on El Al.
Sunday we will take the kids to Manhattan and enjoy all that it has to offer them so if anyone knows anything going on we should try to get to, let me know.
When we land on Tuesday morning there is a planned ceremony from Nefesh B'Nefesh which is broadcast live, about midnight Monday US EST time. Their site will have links closer to the date.
We will be offline for a few days while we get new phone service and internet hooked up at our new apartment, don't let that stop you from staying in touch with us.
We are moving to Rehovot which is just south of Tel Aviv and not far from Ben Gurion airport.
Why Rehovot?
We found a nice community that was mixed Israeli and Anglo. Having a great community is something we will miss from Boca and we think the one in Rehovot will be a good match for us. The schools for the kids worked out for us as well as everyone had only great things to say about the schools. Rehovot is also on the main train line making it easy to get to Netanya, Tel Aviv, Haifa and more locations on the coast line.
If you have made it this far, thank you for your friendship, readership and support. I hope to see some of you in January, usual place. Maybe get to Social Connections 7 in Stockholm in November and see you sooner.
Are they scared? Sure, but they also have hope and are excited to go on this journey. Since they have not been there before, while my wife lived there for 7 years and I did for 3, they are just starting to understand it is not all desert and tents. Modern technology has also made it much easier for friends and family to stay in touch which should help them as well.
They want to "adopt" a lone soldier, one that is serving in the army and has no immediate family or home in Israel. I have known a few people that were those soldiers and we look forward to helping them once we get settled.
My kids are lucky, we spent a summer living in London, we spent a December too. They experienced things they never would in Boca Raton. My children will have even more experiences from living in Israel that will influence their view of the world.
Some people want to change the world, I want to help my kids do it by helping Israel grow and flourish.
Today is Tisha B'Av, the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av, and a fast day.
This day has had so many bad things happen to the Jewish people over the millenia it is amazing we survived all this time. Because one is not supposed to travel or conduct business on this day, we will be departing from Boca Raton on August 6.
Our journey, 2 adults, 3 kids, and 1 dog in a van with about 15 suitcases and duffel bags will be making our way driving from Florida to New York. We will pass through Georgia and spend the night in Manning, South Carolina as our first stop. It is not the scenic route, just the I-95 one.
We then make a dash to reach Silver Spring, Maryland for Thursday night and spend it with friends after a stop in Richmond, Virginia for Lunch.
Friday we head to the Big Apple, New York City where we will return our van to Honda and spend Shabbat in Woodmere with a neighbor of one of my college friends. These people do not even know us yet, but have been gracious enough to let us stay with them through Monday morning when we head to JFK for our flight on El Al.
Sunday we will take the kids to Manhattan and enjoy all that it has to offer them so if anyone knows anything going on we should try to get to, let me know.
When we land on Tuesday morning there is a planned ceremony from Nefesh B'Nefesh which is broadcast live, about midnight Monday US EST time. Their site will have links closer to the date.
We will be offline for a few days while we get new phone service and internet hooked up at our new apartment, don't let that stop you from staying in touch with us.
We are moving to Rehovot which is just south of Tel Aviv and not far from Ben Gurion airport.
Why Rehovot?
We found a nice community that was mixed Israeli and Anglo. Having a great community is something we will miss from Boca and we think the one in Rehovot will be a good match for us. The schools for the kids worked out for us as well as everyone had only great things to say about the schools. Rehovot is also on the main train line making it easy to get to Netanya, Tel Aviv, Haifa and more locations on the coast line.
If you have made it this far, thank you for your friendship, readership and support. I hope to see some of you in January, usual place. Maybe get to Social Connections 7 in Stockholm in November and see you sooner.
I now return you back to my usual blog posts.
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