Category: Other

It’s #GivingTuesday

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We just had a day of giving thanks, plus two more for getting great deals on seasonal gifts. Now, we have #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back.

Today, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give.

It’s a simple notion; we all come together to give something more.

With this in mind, here are three recipients worthy of your donations:

15-4015-40 Connection is an emerging national organization committed to raising awareness about the life-saving advantage of early cancer detection. They empower individuals to take personal responsibility for their health, check themselves for cancer, and take assertive action in response to persistent health changes. 15 to 40-year-olds are diagnosed with cancer nearly five times more frequently than young children. However since 1975, improvements in their survival rates have not kept pace with those for other age groups. 15-40 Connection strives to improve cancer survival rates for this overlooked population by providing educational resources, tools, and programming.

Worcester County Food Bank (WCFB) is the region’s leading anti-hunger organization distributing over 5 million pounds of donated food and grocery product in partnership with food donors, financial supporters, and volunteers. WCFB provides this product to a network of 138 partner agencies that have programs for feeding people including food pantries, community meal sites, and shelters.

gdrne_web_logoGreat Dog Rescue New England is a nonprofit, shelterless, all-breed rescue group headquartered in Massachusetts. The group is comprised of volunteers all over New England who love dogs and want to help those that end up homeless through no fault of their own.

Do You Hate Your Boss?

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You know the feeling! The very thought or mention of your boss causes your knuckles to turn white and your blood pressure to go through the roof. Family members and friends know to avoid mentioning his or her name unless they want the conversation to take a turn for the worse. Dealing with a bad boss can be emotionally draining and exhausting if it’s someone you don’t like or can’t trust.

Is it possible to find a silver lining in such a situation? Yes! Before you fly off the handle or pack up your personal things and head for the exit, there are several simple rules that can help you win the day.

Become Your Boss’s Ally

Choosing to become your boss’s ally could be a tough pill to swallow because you may be harboring a lot of animosity toward your boss. In reality, your mission is to support your boss’s initiatives at work. The obvious exceptions would be if you boss wants you to do something immoral, illegal or destructive to yourself, someone or the organization.

Sit Tight and Ride it Out

Your situation at work might be like a bad weather day. Difficult situations often take time to change. Relationships and what others expect of you can change and evolve over time. The result may be a far different work environment than your first one. Keep a balanced mind. Not everything will go in your favor, even if you’re the perfect employee. There will be things and outcomes in life that you’ll simply have no control over.

Create an Exit Plan

Change is the one constant in life! If your work situation is hopeless, move on to greener pastures. Sure, there are always obligations in life that can bind you to a job. However, the reality is that you will always be responsible for your career. While maintaining your professional demeanor on the job, search for a better career opportunity elsewhere.

There could be something better for you just down the road. Just remember to leave your present job with your integrity and good name intact.

Eight Tips About Holiday Networking

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As the holiday season approaches, professional holiday parties will also begin sprouting up. This is the perfect time to begin perfect your networking skill set.

Here are a few ways in which you can master holiday networking and take new connections with you into the new year!

 

17737-business-man-hand-pv1. Go empty-handed. Your hands need to be free for handing out business cards, taking down notes and phone numbers, and shaking hands. Leave your cell phone, coat, and brief case somewhere else.

Office+Mate+Wall+Clock2. Arrive early. The earlier you can communicate with people, the better. Keep in mind that people don’t want to talk business when that’s all they’ve been doing for the past few hours.

free_corporate_business_card_3_by_pixeden-d45d0ua3. Remember your business cards. There’s no reason not to have a stack of business cards on hand at a networking event. Don’t forget them.

2722635443_177dae870b_b4. Keep the name badge to your right side. Because you will likely shake hands with your right hand at all times, you want your badge to stay on that side. It will be more noticeable when you extend your hand!

8220357873_2f0af0ce6d_z5. Don’t stay with the same people. No matter how intense or interesting the conversation is, move on to new people every so often.

6970660314_f9a835f9f0_b6. Stay interested. Rather than spending your time answering questions, try asking them. Maintain eye contact and don’t let your eyes wander around the room during a conversation.

326205483_138ba5f747_z7. Lay off the alcohol consumption. It might seem obvious, but keep the drinking to a minimum. Even though alcohol might be present at the party, you must still remember you’re making a lasting impression on many of the people there. Avoid drinking altogether, but if you must do so, alternate water or other non-alcoholic beverages between drinks.

Cisco_phone8. Follow up! What’s the sense in going to a holiday business party if you don’t follow up? Catch up with your new connections on LinkedIn or shoot them an email within two days after the party.

Above all, remember to have fun at your holiday event! If you’re having fun, the chances are high that other people are too.

THE CHALLENGE: Keeping Our Graduates Closer to Home

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The dearth of graduates from Worcester-based colleges who remain in the area recently served as the main topic of the day for the Worcester Regional Research Bureau at Assumption College.

Hosting a panel discussion entitled, “Degrees of Separation: Retaining College Graduates in Greater Worcester,” the group looked at the results of a survey from graduates of the Class of 2014 that offered discouraging results about keeping graduates in the area.

Just 18 percent of those graduates said they planned to live in Worcester, the second lowest percentage mentioned, coming just ahead of the 15 percent who stated they would reside elsewhere in the region. Central Massachusetts was the choice of 33 percent, while the metro Boston area was the option for 23 percent of the graduates.

Students have negative perceptions toward Worcester with regard to potential job opportunities, along with not seeing it as a somewhere they want to live. Others simply noted an interest in being closer to family and friends, so the panel focused on the first two issues.

The Director of Career Development at Assumption College, Nikki DiOrio, felt that a lack of information about the companies in Greater Worcester might be part of the problem, suggesting that engaging students regarding opportunities as well as offering internships would be a step in the right direction.

Another action taken within the past year has been the work of area schools’ career services professionals. A new committee that was established has made a greater effort to have businesses and students connect with each other.

Another panelist, Assumption graduate Nicholas Guerra, noted how his internship with Rep. James McGovern eventually developed into a full-time job as a McGovern aide. Guerra, who was joined on the panel by UMass Memorial Medical Center CEO Patrick Muldoon, believes that better marketing of the area will contribute to greater success, citing the area’s bustling nightlife.

Three Lessons Jeff Bezos Taught Me About Running a Startup

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Approximately twenty years ago, serendipity helped new Seattle resident Maryam Mohit take a giant leap toward her dream to start an online bookstore. That vision helped blossom due to a friend’s suggestion that she meet with “a guy named Jeff” who had a similar outlook. That person turned out to be Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Mohit soldiered on despite the attitude of friends who told her that the concept of people giving someone their credit card information over the internet would be a disaster.

Bezos asked during their initial meeting if Mohit would be able to make the website interactive, and soon after she was hired by the then-25 person company as its first web producer. She eventually became the head of a site development department with Amazon, with 200 people working under her.

During her time working with Bezos, she was able to discover three important business lessons from him:

  • Every employee from top to bottom needs to understand what it takes to do the job
  • Make a tireless commitment to customer service by making sure you listen to them
  • Keep a running list of what is working and what isn’t

Using the lessons she gained from her time at Amazon, the now-47-year-old Mohit and co-founder Claudine Ryan have created startup firm GemShare, which is an iOS app. The new company has been compared to Yelp, but differs in the fact that only people a person trusts offer the recommendations that are seen.

Mohit has adopted those principles with her new company:

  • Despite her status, she performs such mundane tasks as making copies or personally changing files that need to be fixed
  • The two founders made sure the app’s use of Facebook would not result in every “friend” being spammed
  • She and Ryan have an Excel spreadsheet of every customer’s suggestions or complaints

The app has met with strong success in app-happy San Francisco, an endorsement which will now move it to new markets in the months to come.

Keeping Your Customer’s Secrets

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Cray Computers are priced anywhere from $500,000 for their “discount” XC30-AC model all the way up to $60 million for the Cray Titan. The company is world-famous for their line of supercomputers, and their products are used by many of the biggest companies – and governments – around the globe.

Recently, Cray mentioned that a major league baseball team had purchased one of their supercomputers – they aren’t saying which team or even which model of computer – to power its analysis of real-time statistics during a game. The obvious intent behind such an expensive purchase was to give this “mystery team” an advantage over their opponents while it still matters – during the actual game in progress. In today’s era of sports-as-megabusiness, the slimmest of perceived advantages are zealously pursued – and protected – by every team and player.

This anecdote shines a light on a relatively common problem that has always existed with client portfolios; companies can’t always mention their customers by name.  Quite often they can’t say anything at all about a project because that would give the client’s competition an inside look at their process and possibly dilute the advantage they enjoy. This can become especially frustrating for the sales and marketing types who love to brag about every important deal in their pursuit of the next one.

At Coghlin Companies, we are quite often precluded from telling anyone exactly what we are doing for a particular client.  Aside from the obvious examples of products we manufacture for the homeland security and similarly sensitive sectors, we can’t always share some of the most impressive work we do. To do so would be against the best interests of our client, and that makes it in our best interest to stay quiet.

The caring associates at both Columbia Tech and Cogmedix work hard every day to bring our clients’ products to market. More often than not, the products we manufacture for our customers do something that the world didn’t even know was possible – yet. Because we work with innovators and global leaders in various industries, the odds are the product we are building today will lead an industry tomorrow. For that reason, it’s only natural that many of our customers ask us to help keep their secrets safe.

We will, of course, comply with that request every time.

Apple and Bose Settle Patent Dispute

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These days, as we are constantly surrounded by noise and seek personal respite, noise cancellation is an increasingly popular – sometimes necessary – technology that subtracts noise in the surroundings from what is heard through a headset. This technology has proven to be “big money.”

Two companies, Beats Electronics (now owned by Apple) and Bose Corporation, are capable of providing this kind of quality sound through their headphones. Unfortunately, they have been at odds with one another and have been in court since July over five patents that control the suppression of background noise in their products.

Both companies manufacture their headphones in China, a key point, since Bose was seeking to prevent Beats from bringing its products into the U.S. Moreover, Bose claimed patent infringement and sought damages as well.

Outside the court case, Bose sought investigation of both Beats and its contractors. It brought its complaint to the U.S. International Trade Commission.

And on top of judicial and administrative action, there are additional items for this story. It turns out that Bose, as an NFL sponsor, was offended when a San Francisco Giants team member wore its competitor’s Beats headset to a postgame event. The effect? Bose’s sponsorship was supporting the advertisement of its competitor!

The word is that Bose and Beats have settled their disagreement. Bose has sought to end all judicial and administrative actions. Officially, the whole thing is “settled,” but details have not been made public.

It has been observed that Apple appears to have more interest in its streaming-music system and not on accessories like Beats with its headphones. Apple really added to its streaming capabilities by purchasing Beats Music, a streaming subscription service, and may not have had so much interest in Beats hardware and this suit.

Starting Salaries Projected to Rise 3.8 Percent in 2015

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According to human resources firm Robert Half, it is expected that annual salaries for professionals in the USA will increase by 3.8 percent in 2015.  Those working in information technology (IT) and other technology fields are expected to benefit the most. New entrants in the information technology industry will receive compensation that outpaces the general trend, as they are expected to earn 5.7 percent more in their initial salaries, survey reports find.

Those professionals in the financial, accounting, creativity, and marketing-related industries are expected to receive salary hikes slightly below the general trend at 3.5 percent. 

The supply of talent in many sectors is much lower than is the demand, thereby helping to boost wages to attract more people to the respective fields. This trend is particularly visible in the IT and finance industries. It has become important for these industries to improve their starting salaries to compete in the market for talent. The need becomes more acute when these skilled workers are aware of their growing market demand.

In 2015, mobile technology, security and data management services are expected to see an increase in demand for talent. In fact mobile application developers are expected to receive the highest yearly compensation packages.

The legal sector is also experiencing an increase in wages as well, though it is somewhat muted compared to the aforementioned industries. Demand is higher for middle and senior level professionals in high-growth areas such as litigation, commercial law and intellectual property protection. Skilled paralegals are also expected to be high in demand with higher payouts.

Starting salaries of employees in the administrative sector will increase by 3.4 percent. Initial payment of experienced executives and administrative assistants, especially in healthcare, human resources and customer service areas are expected to rise more than other industries.

Massachusetts Task Force Challenges Companies To Promote Women

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A state task force was established by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to encourage the hiring of female employees in the Commonwealth. The task force is suggesting that companies permit more flexible scheduling, and hire and promote female workers to higher positions.

Almost half of the employees in Massachusetts are women, and nationwide they are either the only or main breadwinner in approximately 40 percent of families with children under the age of eighteen. It is a well-known statistic that women earn almost 25 percent less than male employees, and many find it difficult to juggle home and work due to inflexible work schedules. These have been ongoing problems for years, but the newly created task force is trying to change that.

Rachel Kaprielian is the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development. She wants businesses to change outdated policies and become more family friendly, with the understanding that doing so benefits everyone desiring more time with their loved ones.

Governor Patrick recently started a one-year internship program for women after noticing a shortage of females in administrative positions and on the boards of private companies in the state. Fourteen women have been hired for executive positions at the state level.

Bentley University and Governor Patrick’s administration are challenging Massachusetts companies to hire more female workers and use their talents more effectively. Companies accepting the challenge will assign an administrator for the program, agree to hire women, increase the number of females at the executive level and narrow any wage gaps between male and female employees.

The task force also wants the Governor’s administration to look into paid family leave. Currently, almost three million workers in the state are not compensated when they miss work to take care of babies or other family members.

The task force is also targeting schools to encourage female students to learn science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to assist them in achieving higher paying jobs. Working with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Higher Education, the task force will recommend courses for female students in high school that will help them in their future job search.

Three Ways to Grow Your Business

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Building a business requires hard work, determination and talent. When it comes to the methods used to build your company, there are literally hundreds of processes to choose from. In reality however, there are only three effective ways to build any business.

Bringing In New Clients

The only way your business is going to survive is if you have a steady stream of new clients. The business world can be an unforgiving place and your top customers could decide that they want to buy from your competition. That is why you need to have new customers ready to step in and maintain your company’s growth.

Remembering That Repeat Business Is Essential

It is always nice to get that first order from a new client, but you will need to continue to see a flow of orders from each client if you want to grow your business. Repeat business is the foundation on which your company growth is built.

If you have competition, then that means that you are not offering a product or service that is truly unique. Your ability to get repeat orders from clients relies on the level of service you offer your clients, the quality of your products, and your ability to remain proactive in delivering new solutions to the marketplace.

Squeezing Every Profit Dollar Out Of Every Transaction

To sustain corporate growth, you need to revisit the basics of doing business and make sure that you are drawing every possible profit dollar from each transaction. You do this by making your process as efficient as possible, maintaining a competitive and profitable retail pricing structure and by keeping the production costs down for your goods and services.

You can look at any business that has ever found success and you can trace that success back to the ability to follow these three business building principles. As a business owner, you should always have a command over the basics of operating your business and you should constantly be looking for new ways to make your business more profitable.