December 2008
7 posts
Presentation Zen
Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery by Garr Reynolds
Death by PowerPoint is a hyperbolic title for an all too real phenomenon in both academia (primarily business schools) and enterprise: mind-numbingly boring and useless PowerPoint presentations. Garr has some great sample processes and thoughts about how to change PowerPoint presentations to make them effective...
GotVMail makes Adweek's list of freaky ads
It could’ve been worse, but GotVMail ended up with one of the more positive “awards” on Adweek’s article entitled, “The Year of the Freak.” Author Tim Nudd named some of the freakiest ad campaigns of 2008, one of which was GotVMail’s viral “ad campaign” featuring Gary Busey (I put that in quotes because it wasn’t really advertising our...
All for one, and one for all: pay for performance...
“Pay for performance” has been around for a while, but the results of implementing it in companies have been varied. It’s an easy concept to understand —pay people when they produce results!—but it’s not as easy to implement.
Performance reviews weren’t a priority when launching GotVMail, and still weren’t while fueling our amazing growth. However,...
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Zander: radiating possibility, shining eyes and...
If you have not heard Benjamin Zander of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra talk then you are missing out. He is one of the most engaging, entertaining storytellers I have had the privilege of witnessing. I had that privilege in July 2008 at an Entrepreneurs’ Organization event here in Boston. Watch these videos and you’ll experience a world of possibilities, “shining eyes”,...
Mavericks at Work
Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win by William C. Taylor and Polly G. Labarre
This was a very quick read because it was engaging right from the start. Excellent real-life examples from companies that truly do things differently. Not a traditional management study with a framework and suggested themes. Instead, the book really allows the reader to take away the points...
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Help your customers without them knowing
The most effective help content in applications is the kind you don’t have to look for, and in many cases, don’t need to think about. At GotVMail, internally we’ve called this “passive help,” but externally this could be known as “inline help,” “context help,” or “pop-up help.” Good “passive help” might even include the...
Entrepreneur Making a Difference: Scott Harrison
Food, wine and family were in abundance this Thanksgiving—I had a lot to be thankful for, both personally and professionally. Sitting at Thanksgiving dinner, however, made me think a lot about how much we (I mean me, and my immediate group of friends and family) take events like Thanksgiving for granted—we just assume that things like food and water will be readily available. For...