Outlooks on Business and Technology

Yummy Yammy, a cool local company and hey, that's me in that video!

Towards the end of this video I am interviewed and despite being totally non-photogenic it was pretty cool to watch and not too embarrassing.

There is a longer story .. and here it is

 About a month ago I was at the local farmer’s market and I started talking to Lisa. I know how hard it is to run a local business having worked triple time running two to support the family so when she asked about helping out with a short little 3 minute video I said yes.  This week I was at the Farmer’s market and Lisa came right up to me. She totally recognized me and was very appreciative of my contribution.  I was surprised and warmed. 

 So enjoy!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/18937147/get-yummy-yammy-sweetpotato-dips-ramped-up-for-who  

The company is owned and run by Lisa Johnson if anyone wants to reach out to her directly and network or if you want to get your free sweet potato recipe book or if you just want to pick up some great little tips for great grassroots marketing! or if you want to Join the Sweet Potato Revolution on Facebook • Twitter or YES you can also order online from their website and experience the product for yourself.

--

Lisa Johnson, Y'Ambassador

[email protected]

Yummy Yammy  to get your free sweet potato e-cookbook

Norwich, VT 05055

Norwich Business Council Business After Hours

The Norwich Business Council in conjunction with a number of great Norwich businesses put together a really nice NBC business after hours. King Arthur Flour opened their studio and numerous other businesses donated food, wine, supplies, energy and great company. Norwich, Vermont is a tiny town with a population just over 3000 people and yet it always shocks people to learn that there are well over 200 businesses tucked into the hills. In fact I would dare to guess that the real number is more like 400. Norwich is part of the Upper Valley, an area that crosses the Vermont and New Hampshire borders, and that includes Dartmouth College, the VT/NH Regional Medical Center (Mary Hitchcock Hospital) and about 100,000 people.

Look out this Tiny Town is in the News

Tune In! Wednesday, Nov. 15: Main Streets, Back Roads: Norwich, VT

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/chronicle/10282534/detail.html

Norwich, Vermont has it all: a real old fashioned country store, selling thousands of items that run the gamut from sushi to chicken feed; King Arthur Flour, friend of all bakers; and Steve Richardson, a man whose products make Bill Gates excited.

Tonight, Anthony Everett gets a good look at this charming New England village, including a view from high above in a hot air balloon. (This program is presented in high definition TV)

Do you have SoVerNet?

A number of the local businesses in the Upper Valley and surrounding towns depend on Southern Vermont Network as a Host and ISP. In fact SoVerNet recently purchased ValleyNet another local favorite.

This weekend DR took on new meaning for these clients.

"BELLOWS FALLS — A late night fire Saturday in downtown Bellows Falls wrecked the block that housed Oona's Restaurant, which in turn knocked out neighboring Sovernet's statewide telecommunications network."

Read More

Pearson Design

  I took the opportunity to try out a new web design toolkit. Sue Pearson of Pearson Design needed a refresh of her web page and she asked me to sit down and help her a bit with a few of the features of Homestead SiteBuilder. I have to admit that it was fun to let a bit of my creative energy mix and mingle with Sue's extremely artistic eye! The site is jam packed with pictures of some of the incredible projects Sue has completed.

Take a look at the newest web page for Pearson Design and let us know what you think.

NH/VT Upper Valley Technology Consultants

The NH/VT Upper Valley Technology Consultant's Web Page has been updated with a new logo and theme. Take a peek!

NH/VT Upper Valley Technology Consultants

The next meeting of the NH/VT Upper Valley Technology Consultants will be on September 20th.

Kevin Tombs, CISSP and President of Summit Systems Security will be presenting! Registration is required so that coordination of food and seating can be handled efficiently. For more information you can check out the groups web page and/or simply register. 

TO REGISTER!

Marketing Opportunity to Women Business Owners

If 200 small women owned businesses are a perfect match for your company's products or services you might consider some of the sponsorship opportunities offered through the Women Business Owner's Network (WBON)

WBON offers sponsors the opportunity to reach the women business community with outstanding frequency throughout the year. Sponsors garner over 27,000 impressions within this outstanding statewide group of entrepreneurial women. Since 1984, WBON has been the organization to which Vermont and New Hampshire (and most recently New York) businesswomen have come to connect their livelihoods with their lives where experiences are shared and information is exchanged in a climate of mutual respect that fosters the success of women-owned businesses.

At whatever level of annual sponsorship you choose to support the organization, your business will receive continuing exposure:

• Monthly e-mail meeting notices
• Ad in annual member directory
• Semi-annual e-mail newsletter
• Semi-annual printed newsletter (bonus distribution at expos and conferences in addition to WBON members)
• Spring and fall conference brochures, in publicity, advertising, conference materials, signage, and in a verbal "thank you".
• Listing/link in sponsor area of WBON

Specific sponsorship level benefits are limited and available by e-mailing info (at)  wbon.com or calling 802-363-WBON and asking to talk sponsorship. The sponsorship year begins September 30, 2005 through October 1, 2006.

Women Business Owners Network

Connecting our livelihood with our lives since 1984

"Hitting the Granite Ceiling" Article

Tricia L. Hayes has written a very interesting article for BusinessNH Magazine. To sum it up... Women in NH are just not there yet when it comes to equality.

The Upper Valley Includes

For those of you who have never heard of the Upper Valley - it includes the following cities...

Lebanon, NH

West Lebanon, NH

Hartford, VT

White River Jct., VT

Norwich, VT

Hanover, NH (think Dartmouth College)

Lyme, NH

Thetford, VT

Possibly Queeche, VT and Woodstock, VT

and no I didn't make it all up.. the Radio stations even call this area The Upper Valley. We have about 100,000 people in the area and are 1/2 way between Montreal and Boston via 89N.

VT CPA PR Committee

Vermont has a long history of being fairly progressive and many think this is only on the extremely liberal side of the house, but the innovation and energy of the Vermont Economy and the direct access that many of the 600,000 residences have to each other (yes there are only 600,000 residences in VT) have created some other very interesting initiatives.

Take for instance the Vermont CPA Society's new PR Committee. I am a member and we had our first meeting about 8 months ago. What is awesome is as of last Friday (when I headed up to Montpelier for another meeting) we had numerous successes! The additions to the annual meeting were well received and included doing more for the new CPAs in the state and the recommendations not only didn't cost the society any extra money they actually showed a tiny bit of a profit which can be used for even more initiatives.

In an age when the younger generation expects to do everything online, including CPE, it is awesome to know about more "shared face to face" information from the experienced members. Sometimes our younger peers do not need to take the same bumps in the road. With a little shared knowledge we can help them find their own bumps to conquer as they steer away from the ones they are warned about.

(A year older and I already sound like an old hoot, but it is true)

Hats and Titles

Friday afternoon and I am finding that I can almost reach over and grab a different hat about every hour or so. What I mean by this is depending on the task that needs to get done the role I am in changes. This is nothing new for me or for many of you reading this, but some days it just seems so wild. 

Business design and vision, accounting, consulting discussions on the business consulting side of the hose, sbs and Goldmine questions on the technical consulting side of the house, IT services (installed a new product for review today), budgeting analysis, marketing, sales and project work..

Wow! How many hours in the day? Not if you do and track 20 things at once?

Thanks Tom

I have been so priviledged to work with someone I don't know over the last couple of days. In fact I was thrilled that after I queried about a carpool that they offered to organize the carpool to LinuxWorld in Boston! Additionally it was such a joy today to get a very humorous FAQ on the event. This free "smile" not only brightened my Monday morning, but also helped me be more efficient with no extra energy on my part.

So Thanks Tom! I look forward to meeting you.

From Tom (Chief Organizer of the car pool to Linux World Boston)

To review, we're meeting on Wednesday, February 16 at 8:00 AM on the mall in Lebanon near Sweet Tomatoes. Please let me know if you plan to join the carpool. Here's the FAQ, v 1.0:

1. Q: What's this about again?

A: We're organizing a carpool to LinuxWorld in Boston.

2. Q: Why is it on Wednesday?

A: My only free day is Wednesday, and I spoke up first.

3. Q: Yea, Wednesday is not good for me.

A: That's not a question.

4. Q: Isn't 8:00 AM a little early?

A: The expo opens at 10:00, and it takes about two hours to get there. We're meeting right by Salt Hill. They'll sell you a cup of coffee topped off with a shot of espresso.

5. Q: Emacs or vi?

A: vi.

6. Q: What about gas money?

A: If you're not driving, please bring a few bucks to kick in for gas. If you're driving and don't really need the gas money, you can always give it to the FSF or something.

7. Q: Umm...food?

A: What, you couldn't find a way to phrase that as a sentence? I think you're on your own for lunch. We'll be at a convention center, where there is sure to be a plethora of tasty and nutritious options. On the return trip, it would be nice to stop somewhere where we can get some dinner and socialize a bit. If somebody would like to suggest a good reasonably priced place, I'm all ears.

8. Q: You know it's not called Sweet Tomatoes anymore? They changed the name a long time ago.

A: Yes, I know. I am cranky and resistant to change, and I will call it Sweet Tomatoes until the heat death of the universe.

9. Q: How many questions does this FAQ have?

A: Eight. No, sorry - nine.

-Tom

Vermont CPAs

Today a new committee of Vermont CPAs met to brainstorm on ways to support Accountant's in Vermont. The executive director from the Vermont CPA Society, members in industry and representatives from a number of firms were present.  My role as the black sheep was to stir things up a bit, but that isn't too hard for me given my passion for the industry and my position outside the space. (Ok, that wasn't my official role, but it is so easy to fall into that part)

You know it really wasn't that long ago that, dare I say sales, was just not an acceptable piece of the building and growing of a CPA Firm. In fact I continue to hear similar statements to this regard today. It is not that sales and marketing wasn't or isn't done, it was/is just not called sales and marketing. Marketing doesn't have to be conscious, it just happens. The beauty of making it conscious is that you get more control over the process.

The world does change and now sales is moving more and more toward a consultative approach the two former sales styles referral vs. cold call are slowly merging.. What a concept! We are basically focusing on the practice of caring and taking care of a customers and prospects needs as opposed to filling their heads with fluff that is impossible to accomplish.

WBON Winter Workshop

It is not too late to sign up for the Women Business Owner's Network Winter Workshop at the Mt. Ascutney Ski area. To register go here! You do not need to be a member of WBON to attend and what better way to find out what it is all about then to spend the morning networking and the afternoon skiing.

The Women’s Business Owners Network (WBON) is a Vermont-based association of women business owners. WBON offers a forum for women to connect with one another in a meaningful way. Sharing what we know and learning from one another. WBON was established in 1984 and continues to create opportunities for members to exchange information and resources in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Chapters exist in Burlington, Montpelier, The Upper Valley (Norwich, VT/Hanover, NH), Brattleboro, Rutland, and Malone, NY.

Adding Value

One of the benefits of working with a small business who takes pride in their work and who goes above and beyond in what they offer is that their ideas improve your ideas. Here is a great post that demonstrates a business owner listening (well enough to blog about the need). Additionally the company meets the customer's needs while also exceeding their expectations. The end result is very clear! and the end product much improved from the initial request. 

Check it out, the post is short and pictures are included!

VT CPA Society Winter Membership Meeting

One of the benefits of living in a small state is you get to mix and mingling with people from one end of the spectrum to the other. Yesterday I had the pleasure of sitting in a small meeting with Governor Jim Douglas, despite it being the first day of the legislator for 2005, and then later had the benefit of meeting a number of the legislators over dinner. Governor Douglas was the first speaker at the Vermont CPA Society Winter Membership meeting.

One of the key points that came out of the Governor's talk was the announcement of a new Governor's 90 Percent Club for CPAs!  The state has a strong interest in encouraging more eFiling of Tax Returns as they are looking at significant savings both in efficiency, convenience and in actual dollar savings in operating costs. The current status of eFiling in Vermont is at about 27% of tax returns are filed electronically.

The Governor's 90 Percent Club encourage preparers to file all their customer tax returns electronically .The benefits include faster refunds for customers, and a framed certificate, recognition on the state's tax prep website, a reception with the governor and a cash bonus for the CPA Firm.

Seems to me this is a real win for the state/win for the customer/win for the CPA firm.

Hanover Chamber Annual Meeting

Headed out to the Hanover Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting! This year the event will be at the Hanover Inn in Hanover, NH which is just five minutes from this office. What does that really mean? I have time to Blog. For those of you who don't know this area Hanover, New Hampshire is where Dartmouth College is located. Dartmouth is known as The Big Green! Check out the links the pictures area really worth it and yes, it looks like just like them!

Madeline Kunin

I had the pleasure tonight to hear one of the most interesting and well spoken women to grace the political process. A three time governor of Vermont (1985-1991), who made huge changes by personally risking her emotional and intellectual self, as is demanded by the political process. An advocate for fiscal responsibility, education, and the environment. I can only hope that more  women business leaders follow in the footsteps of Madeline Kunin. Ms. Kunin is currently a distinguished visiting professor at the University of Vermont and St. Michael's College.

UVCIA - Part 5 - WISP Finowen

Fast InterNet on Wireless EtherNet
Alan Johnson, Director of Technical Services, Finowen

Really focused on options for people and companies who will NEVER have high speed access. High speed fixed wireless that goes through trees, but still has some issues with solid rock. They are finding that people who move to the Upper Valley and have agreements to telecommute for there large city employers are running into trouble. Finowen resolves many of the last mile telecommuter issues! It is not only access, but FAST and REASONABLY priced solutions.

If you need broadband access and you don't have it nor see any options in the future! Fill out the Finowen web form, if they don't have access and there is enough demand then you can influence their planning. The nice thing about Finowen's options is that they really are fast to deploy.

UVCIA - Part 4 - SegNET Technologies - The Future of Broadband

SegNet Technologies, Inc. (One of the largest ISPs in New England)

Have you considered that your ISP is a business partner in more ways than simple business to consumer, B2C, services. As companies merge and grow a strong relationship with their ISP can mean time and money saved and easy roll out of new offices and new services. A close connection with your ISP can also mean that as newer technologies in the ISP world mature (MPLS, T3s, Broadband options), your company is thought of! As in you have a representative who knows who you are, knows your needs and can alert you when better solutions or cheaper options are available.

The future of broadband! Not everyone needs large and complex solutions BUT some do.

Jeremy Katz, SegNET Technologies, Inc. had a AWESOME talk!

UVCIA - Part 3 - Economic Issues of Telecommunications

Economic Issues of Telecommunications in Vermont
Thomas Murray, Economic Development Council

There are REAL COSTs SAVINGS!

"When you have someone look over your telecommunications infrastructure you will often see an annual savings of 10% right off the bat! And then on top more extras including 20% more bandwidth, free toll calling, call forwarding and internet integration among just a few of the many other features.

For more information on what Vermont is doing download the Vermont Telecommunications Plan from the wealth of information on Think Vermont.

VERMONT TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLAN
www.thinkvermont.com

UVCIA - Part 2 - TechnoSPEAK 102 - Server Based Tools

TechnoSPEAK 102 - Server Based Tools
Tom Lyons, President of SoverNet

SoverNet only serves the State of Vermont, they are an ISP, Telephone provider and Colocation center. SoverNet is primarily focused on small businesses and the main reason is because Vermont is Small Business Heaven! Look at the statistics. There are 30,000 businesses listed in the State of Vermont! Of those 30,000 - 20,000 of these businesses have less than 10 employees and 25,000 businesses have less than 20 employees.

And you thought I was kidding when I mentioned that those who have worked in VT for many, many years are often times EXPERTS in the "S" of the SMB niche.

What do small businesses use a server for and can their ISP offer these?
Website hosting
E-mailing
Fax Services
Security and firewall protection
E-commerce sites

UVCIA - Part 1 - Broadband Utilization

Seattle -> New York City -> West Lebanon, NH: What a week!

A special session of the Upper Valley Computer Industry Association on Broadband starts with a very interesting survey on the actual broadband use in NH starting in 2002 and then compared to 2003.

Two huge items jump out

1) 2002 shows about a 50/50% split between broadband and dialup versus 2003 where we see about a 75/25% split.

Greg mentions that "Technologies are always ahead of actual use"

2) A change has also been noticed in the importance of broadband to the actual business from the perception of the business owner. This includes more access for telecommuters and what was found was that the demand for telecommuters was more from the employee then the employer.

The biggest challenge as mentioned by the speaker, Greg Franklin, was "do we have dark places in the state". These dark places are where broadband is either not available or too expensive for broad adoption. Believe it or not the regional issues were not a huge factor in 2003 and company size was also not a significant factor.

Bigger companies understand broadband better, but the need is not more or less than smaller companies. There was not necessarily a direct correlation.

Lastly from the survey...
How often is the internet used for?
Rated from the most often to the least often which shows how businesses are utilizing the broadband access they have installed.

#1 Research
#2 Software Updates
#3 Send and Recieve files
#4 Purchasing
#5 Marketing/Advertising
#6
#7 e-mail
#8 E-commmerce
#9 Credit Card Processing
#10 Web Conferencing
#11 Inventory Control
#12 Video Conferencing

NH/VT Upper Valley Business News

One of the difficulties in the Upper Valley is that there are all these really cool small businesses moving at the speed of light, but because they are only working with National and International accounts "us locals" often don't know about what is going on. To help solve this problem I started a local Yahoo Group called [email protected]

The goal of [email protected] is to have a place where local companies can post press releases, promotions, discounts and news. It is a place to SHARE the excitement.

The Status after 6 Months!

So far the group has generated a lot of membership interest and people have signed up (it is FREE), but getting people to share has been like pulling teeth. So here is a little more insight about the small, ok tiny buisnesses. They are FLAT out busy, so busy that sometimes it is very hard to remember to get those systems in place where press releases are being sent on a consistent basis.

and (as I say with an embarressed grin) The Norwich Group is as guilty as the rest of them!

I can't wait until everyone just blogs and uses RSS and we can get rid of a number of the other less efficient methods of communicating news.

Useful Definitions - New Hampshire Groups

TechNet is a national network of nearly 200 CEOs that promotes the technology industry by building relationships with policymakers and advocating a targeted policy agenda.
For more information, see www.technet.org. TechNet New England, SwANH and NHHTC often offer joint events.

The New Hampshire High Technology Council's purpose is to bring together representatives from the private and public sectors to establish and maintain financial, technical, management, legislative and educational support programs that encourage innovative research and technology-based industrial development in NH.
For more information, see www.nhhtc.org.

The Software Association of New Hampshire (SwANH) is a statewide network of over 800 information technology industry providers and professionals from the private and public sectors with a mission of assisting members in providing world-class information technology products and services.
For more information, see www.swanh.org.

Life Long Learning

Yesterday I had breakfast with Hardy Hasenfuss, President of New London Management Associates and professional coach. Hardy had great insight to a need and habit that few of us realize is coming our way (or for some has caught up with us). There is a general tendency to retire and then to fall into societies expectations that we all just stop thinking and stop doing expect for pure leisure activities.

This is a huge problem leading to high levels of boredom, social isolation and loneliness in our older generation. This is even a bigger problem for those who defined themselves by their “title” while working. “Who are you?” “I am a banker” for instance. Just think you spend years and years becoming this incredible resource of knowledge only to discover that when you are truly a wealth of intellectual property no one much is interested. I was thrilled to talk with someone who is actively doing something about this! Thank you, Hardy!

I know in my world the people who are significantly older than I are my best "gurus" of knowledge. Some are similar to the Monks in the mountains and others are adamant in their opinions and attitudes. All when listened to have some incredible perspectives. Of course there is the Mom - who is 40 years older than I (I am the third daughter), 2 older sisters, older friends (a whole handful), older business associates (multiple) and older prospects and clients. Do you see a pattern here? I ask for input whenever I can because insight and perspective is something that is easy to get wrapped up into. We often fall into the misperception that our opinion and frame of reference is the right frame of reference and if something doesn't fit it must be wrong. I can’t tell you how much energy is wasted every year from people trying to change other people’s perspectives as opposed to simply understanding them.

So for those who are here in the Upper Valley I recently learned about the Dartmouth Center for Lifelong learning and wanted to share the information. Perhaps if older people were encourage to continue to expand their intellectual “property” by the simple request that information be shared we would all be a little more diverse and a little more questioning of our own limitations.

If you do discover ILEAD or if you have discovered ILEAD please let us know by pressing the comment button below or by sending me a direct e-mail because information shared is information gained.

Traveling Around and People

A week of running around the country and always more questions. I have met some incredible people from Dave Lavery (famous Nasa guru) to a very interesting Technical Evangelist working on behalf of Microsoft. The backgrounds of people fascinate me and I continue to just keep my eyes and ears open. My thought ... how can I help, who do I know that would make a win/win introduction for both people and are both people open to this opportunity? Then there is who would be helped by the information I learned this week, how to I absorb it into my world?

The world is a small place and by reaching out just a little bit we find that it is even smaller.

I learned for instance that the "First" program was started in New Hampshire http://ranier.oact.hq.nasa.gov/first/first.html and that in 10 years we might be in a dangerous position for highly qualified doctorate level robotics specialists. There is only 1 doctorate program in Robotics in the Nation today at Carnige Mellon University.

Know anyone in high school who might be interested in Science and Robotics? Tell them about FIRST.

What about incubators? Do you know what amazing things are happening today with the incubator projects in New Hampshire and Vermont? Did you know a new incubator will be built in Lebanon, NH? What about the unpublished knowledge that many small firms start here until they grow to a VC interest level in which they are then moved down to the Route 128 cooridor just outside of Boston, MA. Interested in New Hampshire? Portsmouth is the silicon valley of the state, but the Upper Valley probably has the most hidden gems. In New Hampshire we have the New Hampshire High Tech Council and we have the Software Association of New Hampshire. In fact swANH is having a major InfoXchange on September 30th and I managed to get recruited to help with sponsorships. Ouch! but I have to admit you get to talk to some fun people and if you are going to make a few calls, you might as well make it fun.