Interesting. According to the local CBS radio affiliate, KMOX, CBS has bought the cNet network of properties for a little over $11 a share. This was according to a memo sent to all employees by Les Moonves.

The radio guy was mkaing fun of some of the web properties, but he made an excellent point:

We didn't even know the internet existed five years ago.

It's a fascinating play for CBS to make at this point. Others have pointed out that cNet continues to lose money, but with the right direction they could make a ton of cash.  

We're in the middle of hiring a couple of people for our teams at work, which means you have to look at a ton of resumes. The group responsible for our recruiting does an excellent job in gathering possible candidates. As I read through the technical resumes a few things pop out to me. Common mistakes that many people seem to make appear after the 50th resume, so I thought I'd pass on what I've seen. Maybe you could use it to avoid any problems. 

I was going to use screenshots from the actual resumes, but decided against it due to privacy issues.  

Yeah.

So, it's been a full quarter since I last posted. While I hate the self adulation of posts explaing why someone hasn't posted in a while, I must indulge myself. 

Nah, never mind.

It's one thing to look at the reasons why, but it's quite another to waste time on it. The simple fact is that blogging became a low priority for me. Life took over and it became apparent other things needed more attention. 

Since I've been able to shift things around I've made time and I'll be back to blogging. I have a few really cool ideas of things to discuss, so I cannot wait.  

I've written before about presentation tips, but I wanted to make sure I noted how to give really good, engaging presentations. The presentation type I'm going to focus on is informational with some persuasion tossed in. These are presentations where you want to provide strategy or direction, but you'd like your audience to agree with you. 

Here are the top five things about handling these presentations:

1) Tell a story: You know your information, so you need to tell a story with it. Stories engage people in the information and, more importantly, force them to follow along with what you're saying. Since you haven't handed out paper copies, they need to look at you or the presentation screen. It's time to tell the story. Relate your points in terms people understand, but with all stories you need to focus on the main point.  

Photo Credit: john evans

Today I began rolling out the transparency thoughts to the managers on my team. One of the things that caused concern was the in out board idea. I had to explain a few things concerning my concept for the in out board:

It's not micromanagement: The goal isn't to micro manage the technician's time nor is it to prove when someone worked. It's about enhancing our customer's trust and allowing them to understand the ebb and flow of our daily work. I made a mistake in the way I brought it to the team, but I was very quickly able to see my error.

Photo Credit: waffler
Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=5229383&size=l
Photo License: http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=5229383&size=l#cc_license

There has been much talk lately of transparency in business. Transparency is the conducting of business in an open atmoshphere where customers, employees, vendors can all see your processes, results and status. It's been a hot buzzword due to the accounting scandals of the early 2000s. 

At the end of 2007 I spent time thinking about transparency. My mind tossed around the following questions:

Does transparency bring value?

Can transparency happen without effort?

What does transparency mean in an IT support organization?

I came to the conclusion that there is value in transparency, it requires effort and it means an increase of trust and business commitment to an IT support organization.

Photo Credit: Iwan Beijes