2009 User Group flyer and some NextComp history

I've put together a printable flyer with the important details regarding the 2009 User Group meeting being held at the Port of Seattle's corporate office in Seattle on March 30th.

Thank you to Tammy Woodard at the Port of Seattle for hosting the meeting this year.

It was about 9 years ago that Tammy, Bob (my Dad) and I met over lunch to talk about market pricing. Tammy mentioned that she wished that there was an easier way to manage all the salary survey data that the Port used each year. I had been working on a web-enabled database for use in my consulting business to help my clients with just exactly that issue. We agreed over lunch that the Port would give the database a trial run. They liked it and the Port of Seattle became the first NextComp subscriber. Tammy and the Port have been a part of the NextComp family for 9 years now and we're excited about all the changes and progress we've made in that time.

I'm looking forward to the next year and the next 10 beyond that!

Northwest Area User Group Meeting - March 30th - 9:30 AM

The Northwest Area User's Group meeting is now confirmed for March 30th from 9:30 AM to 2:00 PM. The Port of Seattle is hosting the meeting at their offices on the Seattle waterfront. I'll be contacting the Northwest area users this week with a personal invite, but I wanted to get the word out as soon as the location was confirmed.

The meeting details are below.

Address:

2711 Alaskan Way
Seattle, Wa.

Driving and Parking Directions:

http://www.portseattle.org/about/maps/directions-p69.shtml

The agenda is:

• 9:30 to 9:45 AM - Arrival and greetings
  
• 9:45 AM to 10:30 AM - Update on NextComp over the last year and where we're headed next year (NextComp Version 3 and Salary Planner applications)
  
• 10:30 AM to Noon - NextComp Version 3 - Introduction and discussion of features
• Noon to 12:45 PM - Break for lunch
• 12:45 PM to 2:00 PM - Continue discussion of NextComp Version 3
  

Other information:

When you arrive at the Port of Seattle office, you'll need to sign in at the front desk and get a name badge. The receptionist can provide directions to the meeting room.


I'm looking forward to the meeting and hopefully seeing you on March 30th!

Happy New Year, SSL Certificate, Wallpaper, Zendesk Buddha Machine, Tweet In Review

Happy Lunar New Year

It will be Lunar New Year, sometimes called Chinese New Year, on Wednesday this week. There were several celebrations in Seattle on Saturday. Here's a photo of the Chinese Dragons, although, I think these were more like Vietnamese Dragons. My future brother-in-law was coordinating this group as they made their way around "Little Saigon" in Seattle.



Here's one of my brother-in-law cleaning up after the fireworks went off in front mother-in-law's shop.



It was a fun time to be in Seattle, although it was really loud when the firecrackers were going off!

New SSL Certificate

We've switched providers for our SSL security certificate. We're now using Network Solutions for the service. We're very pleased with Network Solutions other services, such as e-mail and web site hosting. We now have one provider for e-mail, DNS hosting, and our SSL certificate. This makes things simpler, easier, and more affordable.



February 2009 Wallpaper

Here are a couple of photos with a February 2009 calendar that make great wallpaper for your computer. Enjoy!



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Zendesk Buddha Machine

The kind folks over at Zendesk sent along a 2nd Buddha Machine for my continued support with tweets and blogging about their awesome help desk solution. Here's my son opening up the package that arrive this week from Hong Kong. The Buddha Machine plays relaxing ambient music. Check out the FM3 Buddha Machine Wall



Tweet In Review

"What you should know about writing job descriptions " http://tinyurl.com/akyteq 12:31 AM Jan 28th from TweetDeck

IOMA HR Compensation Survey online: http://tinyurl.com/au8y6d 8:54 AM Jan 29th from TweetDeck

How to communicate with tact and professionalism training course (PDF link): http://tinyurl.com/bflwmv 8:58 AM Jan 29th from TweetDeck

Kind of a cool looking car, but I doubt we'll see these driving around town anytime soon: http://tinyurl.com/bpnpmq 11:29 AM Jan 29th from TweetDeck

Interesting free form database for Mac OSX and an article describing it: http://tinyurl.com/ypnuw7 http://tinyurl.com/cvob7f 11:33 AM Jan 29th from TweetDeck

Do you have an iPhone and enjoy listening to NPR? Check out the NPR Mobile app on the App Store. Awesome! 12:17 PM Jan 29th from TweetDeck

ust got picked to be an Admin for the "Active Assignment Weekly" group on Flickr. It's a nice vote of confidence from the other Admins. 12:26 PM Jan 29th from TweetDeck

Fist Full Of Talent blog just posted 1st "TV Show". I liked it, it was well produced and informative. http://tinyurl.com/3ofsud 2:39 PM Jan 29th from TweetDeck

Sign up for the 2009 Western Management Group Consumer Products Sales Comp Survey just announced: http://tinyurl.com/al7uxw 1:04 PM Jan 30th from TweetDeck

We're exhibiting at the WorldatWork Total Rewards 2009 Conference & Exhibition, May 31-June 3, in Seattle, WA.: http://tinyurl.com/de8jwe
1:08 PM Jan 30th from TweetDeck


Well, that's it for now. I'll be back at the end of this week.