tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-251721842011-10-23T22:28:49.467-07:00<a href="http://www.nextcomp.net/gamma/index.aspx">NEXTCOMP.NET</a> <br> Market Pricing Simplified <br><br> My name is Matt Johnson, President of NEXTCOMP.NET. We help simplify market pricing and salary planning for some of the best loved organizations in the world, including: <br> <ul> <li>Avid Technologies</li> <li>Getty Images</li> <li>Harvard University</li> <li>Nintendo of America</li> <li>and many more.</li> </ul>Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.comBlogger2071100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-51303171587851049042011-10-23T22:28:00.000-07:002011-10-23T22:28:49.662-07:00

I attended the quarterly NWCRF luncheon on Wednesday the 19th.  It was a well attended event held at the Bellevue Club. Fred Whittlesey presented a thought provoking approach to understanding all the external and internal forces affecting an organization's compensation designs. It got me thinking about how compensation is perceived in the media and in the general public and more specifically

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-6917998560402087052011-09-09T16:17:00.001-07:002011-09-09T21:11:51.385-07:00

Thank you to Milliman USA, specificly Stephanie Eng, for the invitation to the 2011 Milliman USA breakfast held at Safeco Field. It was a pleasure to see Stephanie and the other consultants from Milliman, including John, Greg, Larry and Connie. It was also great to see friends from the Northwest Compensation and Rewards Forum and from past and existing project work. The panel was very

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-39574914526810491502011-06-03T10:25:00.000-07:002011-06-03T10:28:44.822-07:00

In an effort to reduce our commute into work, and to allow us to be closer to home with a growing family, we've moved our office to North Bend, Washington. North Bend is a picturesque town located 30 minutes East of Seattle, nestled at the foothills of the Cascade mountain range.Here's the City's website with some links and great photos:http://ci.north-bend.wa.us/Here's a link to a Flickr

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-4941456370070735662011-06-03T10:22:00.001-07:002011-06-03T10:25:11.141-07:00

One final video from the WorldatWork show in San Diego. A few shots of the walk to the conference center and the 8x speed up booth take down. Next up on nextcompTV is a discussion of Total Rewards and what I learned at the conference.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-2110966441296944142011-05-24T07:12:00.000-07:002011-05-24T07:13:51.457-07:00

Day one of the WorldatWork conference and exposition was jam packed with sessions, booth traffic, and a social event at the historic Midway aircraft carrier.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-46219423529249891022011-05-23T08:54:00.000-07:002011-05-23T08:58:20.274-07:00

Setup day at the 2011 WorldatWork conference and exposition in San Diego with the 8x super speed booth setup and an interview with Audrey Johnson, Visibility Manager at WorldatWork.Be sure to follow @nextcomp on twitter to get ongoing updates from the Expo.I'll also be at the social event this evening on the Midway.I hope to see you there!

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-47943667875030682032011-05-20T12:23:00.001-07:002011-05-20T12:32:59.774-07:00

Bob and I met on Wednesday, May 18th to talk about the "job" and why this concept is still a very important part of the work that we do as human resources and compensation professionals. Also if you are headed to San Diego for the WorldatWork show please stop by booth 227 and say "Hi".Here's a link to the Compensation Café article:Evolution or extinction- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-66050676810376665492011-05-15T21:15:00.000-07:002011-05-15T22:10:14.146-07:00

Bob and I met on Tuesday, May 12th to discuss a couple of fund raising luncheons that we had attended, the ever changing landscape of executive compensation and to tape some footage for a video demonstrating a paperless job evaluation approach. Here's more information on the paperless job evaluation methodology that we've developed through several client engagements.Here are some links that we

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-54093922044514539852011-05-15T17:53:00.000-07:002011-05-15T21:15:43.369-07:00

If you're involved in compensation then you are most likely familiar with job analysis or job evaluation. Reviewing new or updated job descriptions is an integral part of our work.And this process remains relatively unchanged over the last 15 years. Typically we create the job evaluation document in our favorite word processor. We print the document for proofing. We may send it off to a

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-2415026494882419372011-05-15T16:29:00.000-07:002011-05-15T16:59:27.282-07:00

I've made an update to the Reports page in Version 2.This update should make working with pay plans that have several hundred or more jobs more manageable.The graphic below explains the update. You may click the graphic to see a larger view.Basically this page is a bit smarter now. It will remember the last report you viewed and it allows you to filter the list of jobs based on matching partial

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-75129803111864483212011-05-04T22:33:00.000-07:002011-05-05T06:18:13.462-07:00

We're back (after a long hiatus) for another episode of nextcompTV. We discuss a new book about salary surveys, the new focus on cash compensation at Microsoft, and the "Best Places To Work" in Seattle. Here are some links to websites we reference in the episode:http://minimsft.blogspot.comhttp://seattletimes.nwsource.comhttp://www.seattlemet.comAnd for reference, here are three of my favorite

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-9269867000415027112011-03-24T21:45:00.000-07:002011-03-24T22:36:29.643-07:00

I've made a couple of updates to the searching features in Version 2. Here's a summary.My JobsOn the My Jobs table the way you can search for job codes has changed. Rather than making an exact match to a job code, the search will return both exact matches and matches that start with the search criteria.Here's an example of a search for a job code. Searching for "03" in this example returns 10

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-51201367758223153892011-03-20T21:12:00.000-07:002011-03-20T21:21:17.604-07:00

Just a little post to brag about my kids getting to appear on a major game being released by Disney. One of our good friends works for the company that worked on this game for Disney. My oldest daughter and son were asked to fill in during a photo shoot because a couple of other kids couldn't make it that day. Not only did they do a great job during the photo shoot, they had a ton of fun, AND

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-26464258607803378522011-03-20T11:03:00.000-07:002011-03-20T11:06:36.163-07:00

We were lucky to have a clear sky last night to watch the "Super Moon" rise. Apparently it was 14% larger and 30% brighter than normal. It was fun to watch it rise with my kids, although it was a bit cold.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-51059969332394878232011-03-16T13:19:00.000-07:002011-03-16T13:33:42.093-07:00

I just finished booking my flight and my hotel for the 2011 WorldatWork expo in San Diego starting on Monday, May 23rd and continuing on Tuesday, May 24th. I'm excited about the show this year. I'm looking forward to seeing friends and meeting new people. I'm also really happy that it's in San Diego. I love the city and the surrounding areas. I'm especially looking forward to walking around

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-86628012698607514462011-01-01T15:48:00.000-08:002011-01-01T15:55:26.793-08:00

Caelan, Hailey, Jaedan and Shelby skiing in Alta, Wyoming.Here's to starting a new year and being thankful for the last year. I'm looking forward to a busy and successful 2011. I hope the same for you. I'll also be posting more on the blog in the coming months, including more how-to videos with tips and tricks for NextComp and Excel.Happy New Year!

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-54329057225274795092010-10-06T23:34:00.000-07:002010-10-06T23:45:42.070-07:00

I received a question from a subscriber today regarding the difference between the Match Factor % and the Match Weight % in the My Matches table in NextComp. Here was my reply. I hope it may be of help to other subscribers as well!Percent Factor: The data in a survey reported for a particular job represents the compensation market for that job assuming a solid match to the survey benchmark's

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-167573136597660282010-09-10T21:47:00.000-07:002010-09-10T22:21:31.717-07:00

A big thank you the compensation consulting team at Milliman USA especially Stephanie, John, Gregg, and Larry for the invitation to their annual breakfast at Safeco field. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I especially enjoyed seeing friends and listening to a great panel discussion. Debbie and Windsor stepped up to the plate on the panel presenting some great information and fielding audience

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-6025713106770967292010-07-27T23:16:00.000-07:002010-07-27T23:36:33.171-07:00

There's a small but potentially important change to the Search Surveys page. There's even a story as to why this update was needed.I met with a subscriber last week to discuss the annual update processes and during the meeting we ran into a situation where an extremely large search result would cause an error with the company firewall. NextComp would deliver the initial result set (over 1000

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-46316997371011422562010-07-22T23:37:00.000-07:002010-07-22T23:51:55.830-07:00

In this video I demonstrate the most common keyboard shortcuts I use when working with salary survey data files, a really cool and fast technique for converting data from annual to hourly (or vice versa), and a useful formula for combining data from two or more cells into one cell.For reference, here are the keyboard shortcut combinations that I demonstrate in the video.Moving around the

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-2211283852182026532010-07-12T19:18:00.000-07:002010-07-12T22:16:23.998-07:00

Internet Explorer 8 is beginning to become more common in the corporate setting. Some subscribers have discovered a bug with uploading files to NextComp when using IE 8. This error also occurred when using the latest versions of Firefox, Chrome and Safari. If you use any of these browsers and you've tried to upload a data loading template you most likely received an error page similar to the one

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-63577134243120764772010-07-07T20:59:00.000-07:002010-07-07T21:23:06.894-07:00

It's getting to be that time of year when many survey publishers release the results from their fall and winter data collection.Here's a diagram of the overall process of data loading in NextComp. I've labeled the various steps with the primary area of responsibility in a typical setup. This varies by organization as some subscribers do all of their data loading without involvement from

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-83561284578001602912010-05-16T16:29:00.001-07:002010-05-16T16:31:20.593-07:00

I think I'm going to make this a tradition. I put a similar sequence together last year and here's one for this year.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-23420061080012640282010-05-15T22:07:00.000-07:002010-05-15T22:14:40.020-07:00

I'm in Dallas at the Gaylord Texan Resort for the 2010 WorldAtWork Conference and Exposition. Here's a short video of the resort. More videos to follow as the conference gets underway tomorrow.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-17534476643876143662010-05-14T16:52:00.000-07:002010-05-14T16:57:54.325-07:00

I'm headed to Dallas on Saturday the 15th for the 2010 WorldAtWork conference and expo. I'll be in the exhibition hall at booth #230. Stop by and say hi if you're headed to the show. Maybe I'll see you there!

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-51620203419272055072010-05-12T10:06:00.000-07:002010-05-12T11:51:32.089-07:00

My dad and I attended the 8th annual NW Kidney Center breakfast this morning. It was a very well attended and well run fund-raiser. They had close to 900 people in the room. The conversation at our table was fun and the presenters were very interesting. You can learn more about NW Kidney Centers at their website or you can follow them on Twitter. Beautifully designed handoutsWaiting for

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-49947364946006243602010-03-25T23:01:00.000-07:002010-03-25T23:04:19.787-07:00

I've added a video walk-through for Part 1 of the Creating A Compensation Structure series.From this point forward I'll post the video at the same time as the screen-shot walk-through.Here's the video for easy reference. It's also part of the original post now.Video Walk-throughView Larger

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-85691299211163331532010-03-25T19:00:00.000-07:002010-03-25T20:07:32.125-07:00

I'm a gadget freak as anyone reading this blog already knows. I have two new gadgets to share that I've been using now for a couple of weeks. The first one is the Blue Snowball Microphone. I've been aware of this microphone for over a year through several podcasters recommending it in their shows. I'm working on series of video tutorials and I decided I should go ahead and upgrade my sound

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-87195635464557295872010-03-22T21:41:00.000-07:002010-03-22T22:46:28.605-07:00

Last week I attended Word Jazz at Boxley's in North Bend. Boxley's is a new restraurant / jazz club in North Bend. NEXTCOMP.NET was a sponsor for the event. I wanted to support writing and literature in the Snoqualmie Valley, especially when it involves an evening out with family and friends!Several members of the local SnoValleyWrites! organization read from works that they had written. Many

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-82609373029794698312010-03-18T20:15:00.000-07:002010-03-25T23:00:36.581-07:00

This is the first in a series of articles on the typical steps used in designing a new compensation structure. This is based on my 20+ years of experience in compensation design. I'm going to go through the process step-by-step using plenty of screenshots and videos along the way. Here's an outline for the series of articles. This may change or evolve as I go through the process, but it's a

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-88792453026879458882010-02-22T22:40:00.000-08:002010-02-22T23:29:30.873-08:00

I drove out to the coast today with Bob for a return trip on a project that he's been working on. Unlike the last trip, it was sunny and about 55 degrees on the coast today. Here are some photos from the trip.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-88030695480854932262010-01-04T11:55:00.000-08:002010-01-04T12:06:53.647-08:00

I dropped off the radar for the last few months in 2009 but I'll be back with some great new videos and content starting off 2010. The first video series will detail how to design a new salary structure or compensation plan using Excel tools and formulas in conjunction with market data results from NextComp. This will be a step-by-step guide that you can adapt in your own planning.Where did I

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-29192421019198977472009-10-11T21:42:00.000-07:002009-10-11T21:47:53.024-07:00

I just wanted to give you a couple of quick updates.The server maintenance went off without a hitch on Friday evening. The additional RAM in the database server made a noticeable improvement in speed. Also, we've made some improvements in Version 3 performance. Each week brings Version 3 closer to being fully up and running. I'm really happy with how it's shaping up. I hope to post a new

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-33190159816781501082009-10-09T13:26:00.001-07:002009-10-09T13:27:40.749-07:00

Just a quick reminder that NEXTCOMP.NET will be offline for a period of about 30 minutes this evening between 9:00 PM and 11:00 PM. We're installing more server memory and doing some routine maintenance.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-27001030325958132852009-10-07T10:00:00.000-07:002009-10-07T10:03:00.180-07:00

We'll be working on some routine server maintenance and installing additional server memory this Friday evening, October 9th. NEXTCOMP.NET will be offline for a period of about 30 minutes between 9:00 PM and 11:00 PM Pacific Standard Time on Friday, October 9th.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-38369654565052443862009-09-17T10:03:00.000-07:002009-09-17T10:13:12.640-07:00

Bob's back this week as we discuss our philosophy and methods for project management. We're "on location" in a park near our office. It was just too beautiful to be inside on a sunny almost Fall day.Here's a link to Basecamp, the 37signals web-based project management tool that I mentioned in the video.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-45075769669870732662009-09-08T23:44:00.000-07:002009-09-09T00:08:32.127-07:00

This week's video covers the progress were making on Version 3 updates and bug fixes. As an example of the types of changes were making, here are a few screen shots.1) Change to the way the pages are rendered to fill the browser's window.Originally the design had a static page width that would fit most all screen sizes. We decided, based on feedback, that having the static page size really

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-47348021690751223802009-09-03T19:27:00.001-07:002009-09-03T22:00:45.565-07:00

Summer is on it's last legs, the leaves are changing, and football starts this weekend. Here's a shout out to my alma mater the University of Washington Huskies. May they win some games this year!There was no nextcompTV this week due to an extremely busy schedule. I'll be back next week but in a new format. I like the idea of broadcasting live, but I don't like the video quality on uStream.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-8985117926854473262009-08-26T22:44:00.000-07:002009-08-26T22:48:53.836-07:00

In this episode I discuss the Version 3 roll-out in more detail and also talk about the importance of knowing your own style of work and knowing when to take a break to clear your mind so that you can focus and be more productive. Up next is an interview with my brother-in-law. He manages and is part owner in two fast food chain restaurants and is also a brewer for a local craft brew pub. We

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-14893077549993502062009-08-18T19:26:00.000-07:002009-08-18T19:45:45.245-07:00

It's the last few weeks of Summer vacation for my kids. We're spending the week visiting relatives in Pocatello, Idaho. View Larger MapIt's a busy week at NextComp as well, so I've been working, but also taking time to do fun things with the family. It's Tuesday, so that means another episode of nextcompTV. Today I talk about Version 3 a bit, the importance of balancing work and family, and

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-39066691120185200492009-08-11T19:14:00.000-07:002009-08-11T19:49:06.565-07:00

Bob is starting a new project so we thought it might be good timing to discuss project management and how best to run a project to achieve a successful outcome. Bob and I drove out to the Pacific coast of Washington State to have an initial meeting with the organization's leadership. Bob has been exchanging e-mails and having phone calls with the primary Human Resources contact over the last

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-41614721254294412382009-08-05T20:07:00.001-07:002009-08-05T20:11:23.727-07:00

Bob and I discuss the impact of technology on the human resources function. Bob recounts the changes in technology since he started in the early 1960's. We cover a lot of ground in a short period of time.I referenced an article in the show related to the use of Facebook within organizations. Here's a link to that article.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-8875196792350522782009-07-30T20:53:00.000-07:002009-07-30T21:21:26.758-07:00

Where did the time go today during Episode 3 of nextcompTV?Bob and I really got into our discussion of base pay and incentives and strolled into a few other side topics along the way. The video starts with a few shots of the Seattle waterfront, then cuts to 2 minutes from the interview with Catherine Dovey in which Catherine discusses base pay and incentives and the importance of communication,

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-82017128518095720912009-07-24T10:58:00.000-07:002009-07-24T11:19:48.139-07:00

I had the pleasure of interviewing Compensation Works founder and principal Catherine Dovey yesterday. Catherine and I have known each other for 10+ years. I was very interested in discussing the current state of Total Rewards with her. Catherine has 20+ years of experience in designing and managing base pay plans, incentive plans, performance management systems and job evaluation systems. She

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-73088442632689018922009-07-21T13:25:00.000-07:002009-07-21T13:48:22.997-07:00

Bob and I discuss the "State of Total Rewards" basing some of our comments on the panel discussion at last week's Northwest Compensation and Reward Forum luncheon.For some reason the audio is out of sync with the video. We're still figuring out some of the technical aspects of nextcompTV, so bare with us as we go through a few bumps in the road.Next week we'll have some highlights from my

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-60146878483891663922009-07-19T23:50:00.000-07:002009-07-20T00:29:31.003-07:00

Bob and I had the pleasure of attending the July 15, 2009 meeting of the Northwest Compensation and Rewards Forum held at McCormick and Schmick's on Lake Union.It was a very well attended meeting. After lunch a panel of well known and respected people in the Human Resources field held a very interesting "panel discussion on how rewards professionals are making adjustments to their total rewards

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-79016596057891224432009-07-14T13:32:00.000-07:002009-07-20T00:34:54.031-07:00

Here's the first episode of nextcompTV. It went off without a hitch! We're excited to undertake this new venture and we hope to bring you more interesting content, news, and stories in the future. Enjoy!Join us every Tuesday at Noon Pacific Standard Time. Next week we'll talk about the Northwest Compensation and Rewards Forum meeting and hopefully I'll get some video from the meeting.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-18773518309866957542009-07-13T11:21:00.001-07:002009-07-13T12:21:42.317-07:00

If you can break away for 15 minutes tomorrow, Tuesday, July 14th, please join us for the first ever nextcompTV show. Bob Johnson and I will be hosting the show every week on Tuesday.This Tuesday we'll introduce ourselves and the show. We'll also be drawing a business card from the ones we collected at the WorldatWork Expo in May to pick the winner of a $100 Starbucks gift card.What:

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-33593472589789651712009-07-10T10:57:00.000-07:002009-07-10T11:17:35.552-07:00

This week's video blog finds me at Centennial Park in Snoqualmie, Washington, USA. It was a hot sunny day and the park was full of kids playing. There was even a soccer camp going on run by a group of British soccer players.I had a few things on my mind this week. I reached 100 followers on Twitter on Wednesday. Thank you to everyone that is following me! Follow me at http://twitter.com/

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-63881121137986181662009-06-25T14:18:00.000-07:002009-06-25T14:24:05.923-07:00

This is a quick 4 minute overview of how to market price a job using NEXTCOMP.NET Version 3. It covers the highlights of finding a survey match, editing matches, and running a Custom Query. This video is available in high quality on YouTube at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaQ2CYt5-S8This video is also available on the public NEXTCOMP.NET website in the Demos section and on the NEXTCOMP.NET

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-17379117059649149642009-06-20T21:00:00.001-07:002009-06-20T21:55:19.959-07:00

I have an amazing Dad. We've been working together since 1990 when we started a firm called Johnson/Lindstrand Consulting with my Mom. The firm changed names to Johnson HR Consulting, Inc. in the mid-90's and then in 2001 Bob and I started NEXTCOMP.NET together with Chris Cardwell. The firm is now wholly owned by Bob and me and we really enjoy the opportunity to work with each other. I

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-6756334882001794382009-06-19T16:15:00.000-07:002009-06-19T17:08:18.718-07:00

This is a story about volunteerism. It's also a story about the power of non-monetary, or intangible rewards.The setting is a middle school library. The event is a volunteer "thank you" breakfast.I walk into the library and the first thing I notice is the amount of food that has been prepared for the event. It's a full breakfast, with quiche, eggs, muffins, donuts, fresh fruit, coffee, juice.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-36610905920831430392009-06-13T20:49:00.000-07:002009-06-13T21:02:58.531-07:00

Even during an economic downturn, organizations struggle with retaining top talent. It's especially difficult when pay increases and salary ranges are frozen. How does an organization offer incentives and rewards to top talent when cash based incentives are not an option?A trend of offering flexible schedules, four day work weeks, reduced work days and other work-time arrangements seems to be

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-4098506336188561442009-06-06T22:07:00.000-07:002009-06-06T22:30:48.553-07:00

I had some nice comments on the NEXTCOMP.NET logo during the WorldatWork expo this year. At the same time, I've been wanting to get some new branded tees for myself. Not to mention my kids asked if they could have a shirt with the logo. So I've opened a storefront on Cafe Press where you, and I, can purchase branded tees and caps.I don't expect to sell tons of them, but any profits made from

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-34935598691943056992009-06-02T22:30:00.000-07:002009-06-02T22:54:47.806-07:00

It was a successful exposition this year in Seattle. I feel energized and optimistic this evening. The traffic at the booth yesterday and today was great. Bob and I met many new people and had the pleasure of seeing some familiar faces, including Kelly, Brett and Shannon from Amazon.com, Yvonne and Michelle from City of Bellevue, Cathy from Newmont Mining, Leigh of Culpepper and Associates,

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-58970713256440883582009-06-01T23:42:00.000-07:002009-06-02T00:18:08.331-07:00

Another great day at the WorldatWork conference today: I had a chance to talk with several existing subscribers including Susan from Harvard University, Tammy and Ann from the Port of Seattle, Michelle and Nile from Amazon.com, reacquainted with some folks I hadn't seen in a couple of years, met many new people, learned quite a few new things about what is happening in the compensation world, had

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-43607249892986457192009-05-31T21:40:00.000-07:002009-06-01T23:42:26.509-07:00

The conference is off to a great start here in Seattle. The exposition opened at 4:30 and closed at 7:00 PM with a steady stream of folks walking through the hall. I saw quite a few friends tonight, including David from Virgina Mason, Tammy and Ann from the Port of Seattle, Doug from Applied HR Strategies, David from Equilar, Bill and Diane from The Regence Group, and a host of new people and

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-5453011579902324642009-05-30T18:44:00.000-07:002009-05-30T20:21:46.409-07:00

It's conference time again!This year the WorldatWork show is in Seattle. I live 30 minutes from Seattle. The whole experience is much less busy and less stressful since I can stay at home and just drive into the city during the show hours.Here's a video of the first day of getting the booth setup. At the end is an interview with Audrey Johnson, Visibility Manager for WorldatWork. She's great.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-29573873790017570532009-05-08T19:29:00.000-07:002009-05-08T20:00:52.332-07:00

I've started a new blog for tracking updates and changes to Version 3.NextComp Updates BlogCheck it out!

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-42001826499338223242009-05-08T11:12:00.000-07:002009-05-08T17:30:58.736-07:00

We're busy preparing for the 2009 WorldatWork show. There are lots of details to keep track up, including ordering booth giveaways, making sure the booth furniture is ordered, and of course finishing up Version 3 development. We're making great progress and I had a chance yesterday to make a short demo of the new Search Surveys page in Version 3. I wanted to share the process with you, just in

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-43833936089810568412009-05-01T21:35:00.000-07:002009-05-01T23:31:22.582-07:00

Here's our new address:1275 12th Avenue NWSuite 12Issaquah, WA. 98027Our phone number and fax number remain the same: 877-703-7386A little history on our company may help put this move into perspective.My Mom, Dad and I started an HR consulting business out of our home in the early 90's. As the business started to grow we moved to a small three person office in Seattle, near Seattle University.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-14953641388226523722009-04-23T13:20:00.000-07:002009-04-23T13:47:27.891-07:00

Here's a tip for Excel to allow you to load organizational or survey job codes that are a mix of number codes and letter codes. For example, some surveys have job numbers similar to the following: 1000 1000R or the format may look like this10.1010.1110.12What can happen in Excel is that the trailing zero is removed and the list ends up looking like this:10.110.1110.12 In the above examples the

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-67096398375653966952009-04-22T09:21:00.000-07:002009-04-22T09:28:10.427-07:00

My youngest daughter woke up with a smile on her face and said "Happy Earth Day Daddy!" That's a good way to start my day. On the way to school we talked about taking steps to reduce our waste and ways to restore our environment. As I dropped the kids off, they said they were going to pick up trash at a local park as part of Earth Day. I'm feeling hopeful this morning when my seven year old

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-49491838150862932042009-04-18T18:04:00.000-07:002009-04-18T18:21:44.499-07:00

Here's a list of tweets from the past week related to human resources, compensation, surveys, and a few fun items as well.Level 4 gym meet for my daughter, busy day of sports http://twitpic.com/3jv73about 3 hours ago from TwitterFon1st baseball game of the season http://twitpic.com/3jfcaabout 6 hours ago from TwitterFonThis css/javascript modal dialog is awesome in it's simplicity and flexibility

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-68173657234826605682009-04-15T21:28:00.000-07:002009-04-15T21:44:44.527-07:00

I had the pleasure of attending the April 2009 meeting of the Northwest Compensation and Rewards Forum at the Bellevue Hyatt this afternoon. The group is focused on all things "total rewards" including pay, benefits, and work-life related issues. Each quarter they hold a lunch meeting with a well known presenter or panel to discuss the latest topics in the field. Today's topic was "Refocusing

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-58791448932904669242009-04-08T11:14:00.000-07:002009-04-08T11:17:44.793-07:00

Audrey Johnson from WorldatWork says "With just 53 days 17 hours and 45 minutes to go…. We are pleased to announce that the 2009 Total Rewards Conference Virtual Expo Hall is now live on the conference web site. The virtual hall will remain up from now until two months after the conference."Wow, only 53 days until the conference. I like that WorldatWork sends out these little reminders. It

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-14598569821390872842009-04-03T23:34:00.000-07:002009-04-03T23:58:56.330-07:00

Here's a round up of the latest information that I've been reading and posting about on Twitter.But first I want to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of John Linton yesterday. He was a mentor for my Dad in Chicago when he began working at The Hay Group. My Dad was feeling down today because John had been inviting him to visit for a Cubs game. My Dad kept pushing it out to a future date.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-61962544670078947192009-04-01T16:04:00.000-07:002009-04-01T16:05:50.680-07:00

I'm going to be working on freshening up the NextComp blog over the next few weeks, starting with a new blog header. The header image will change regularly to reflect the season. Enjoy!

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-781050309123232522009-04-01T10:40:00.000-07:002009-04-01T11:09:15.211-07:00

I've been told that Spring is officially here, but I think Nature is playing an April Fool's joke on me, because I woke up and it was snowing (again) at my house. I have seen some hints of Spring around the neighborhood, the cherry trees have some blossoms, but Winter is keeping a toehold at least for now.User Group Meeting Wrap UpThank you to those subscribers that attended the 2009 Northwest

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-46662648693612716752009-02-16T18:59:00.000-08:002009-02-16T19:16:40.933-08:00

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

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-71444600756574856132009-02-11T21:24:00.000-08:002009-02-11T22:48:17.731-08:00

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 WaySeattle,

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-61597177714218943412009-02-01T23:23:00.000-08:002009-02-01T23:36:34.818-08:00

Happy Lunar New YearIt 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

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-726868053043298582009-01-23T15:06:00.000-08:002009-01-23T16:46:01.789-08:00

It's been a busy week and I'm having difficulty believing it's Friday already. The week started off kind of slow with the kids home from school and then the excitement built as Tuesday morning approached. Wow! What an incredible day for America. I had to work that day, but I caught up on all the events later that night on cspan. It was also fun reading all the tweets and blog posts from

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-66279676054956015312009-01-16T15:38:00.000-08:002009-01-16T15:53:15.115-08:00

I've been on Twitter a lot more lately. I've met some new people, including a singer from one of my favorite bands. It's weird to carry on a conversation with someone that you feel is famous! One of the other uses for Twitter is to send out a link to an interesting article, blog post, or photo. So I thought at the end of the week I would gather up those tweets and post them to the blog.Great

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-60644356618217739182009-01-13T11:16:00.000-08:002009-01-14T11:00:42.133-08:00

I've discovered a new screen recording software for Mac OS X.It's called ScreenFlow and it looks really cool. There's a demo on the Telestream website.I'm going to download this and give it a try for the "Import Survey" demo that I've been working on. I'll let you know how it goes after my tests today.I hope finish that demo today or tomorrow!UPDATE:So here's a sample movie. It has the

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-51395954339477083612009-01-12T12:19:00.000-08:002009-01-12T12:37:19.645-08:00

You may have heard about the torrential rains and snow melt that we had in my neck of the woods last week. The Snoqualmie Valley was hit hard. I spent a couple of hours volunteering at my kids' school to help with clean-up. Talk about GROSS stuff! It was all mud, slime, and garbage piled up along the fence lines of the playground and surrounding school areas. The district had about 100

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-29158471043766842282009-01-10T23:58:00.000-08:002009-01-11T12:07:42.656-08:00

For the past few months I've been trying to integrate the Zendesk Help Desk with NextComp, but the solutions they offered were more complex that I wanted to wrestle with, so I pushed off this feature. Just last week Zendesk released a new integrated "drop box" tool. Ah ha, I thought, this is the answer to the issue of an easy, integrated help desk. And sure enough, after some testing today, it

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-38783058091702687462009-01-06T14:08:00.001-08:002009-01-06T14:20:33.078-08:00

Happy New Year!So far, 2009 is off to a good start, except for the strange winter weather we're having in Seattle. All the snow caused a delayed start to school on Monday and now flood warnings as all the snow melts. Work continues to be busy. I'm working with several clients on salary planning process implementations, continuing to load survey data, and programming diligently on Version 3.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-30935317912561727362008-12-23T23:27:00.000-08:002008-12-23T23:42:54.715-08:00

Here's hoping that you have an enjoyable holiday season. 'Tis the season to enjoy time with friends and family, stay warm and try to take some time off from work.We've had a very cold and snowy start to winter here in the Pacific Northwest. My kids missed three days of school due to snow and we're expecting more on Christmas eve.Here's one of my favorite photo locations during the first round

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-12377925727457469162008-10-09T11:21:00.000-07:002008-10-09T11:30:13.759-07:00

I've been adding new items to the NextComp help desk as I get questions or comments from subscribers. There are two new items today, one based on a question from a subscriber and one as a result of the online training.If you haven't signed into the help desk before, it's really easy.Visit this website: http://nextcompnet.zendesk.comOn the right side of the page, click the Sign Up link.Enter

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-42803082033816970352008-10-09T00:09:00.000-07:002008-10-09T00:30:23.247-07:00

Here's a preview of Version 3's new navigation bar.We've spent quite a bit of time looking at how the navigation within NEXTCOMP.NET can be streamlined and improved. We are still working out all the new navigation features. We're far enough along that we wanted to share some images from Version 3. The final navigation bar will most likely vary from this preview.This is the Start Page running

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-73441804588736085682008-10-08T23:17:00.000-07:002008-10-08T23:25:05.148-07:00

The training videos from session 1, recorded on September 25th, are now available on the Help page.Session 1 covered setting up new pay plan, adding users, and configuring new user accounts.There are five segments ranging in length from about 3 minutes to just over 15 minutes in length.Click on the Online Help button on the Start Page. Scroll down the Help page to see the embedded videos.The

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-64014551786889634552008-10-08T09:31:00.000-07:002008-10-08T10:50:27.884-07:00

It's not too late to register. Just register for October 9th webinar and I'll send you the meeting information.The purpose of this training session is to cover the Standard Reports and Custom Query options in NextComp, including how to export reports to Excel, Word, and Acrobat formats. We'll also cover the Market Pricing aspects of NextComp and how best to use some common Excel formulas for

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-72969835651467180582008-10-07T09:07:00.000-07:002008-10-07T09:12:01.510-07:00

Here is an agenda for today's web training meeting.The purpose of this second meeting is to go through the process of loading survey data and pricing jobs in a NextComp pay plan against the survey data.The third meeting will cover reports and analysis.NEXTCOMP.NETWeb Training Part #2Tuesday, October 7th10:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time / 1:00 PM Eastern Daylight TimeAgenda1. The Survey Data Loading

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-18559892735751313292008-10-02T10:44:00.001-07:002008-10-02T11:28:30.883-07:00

The training webinar #2 has been rescheduled to next Tuesday, October 7th.You still have time to register.We'll be covering the following topics:Loading Survey DataSearching Survey DataMatching My Jobs to Survey DataWorking With My MatchesLoading MatchesOther Matching ToolsTraining Part 2Tuesday, October 7th10:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time (local time)Register for October 7th webinarTraining Part 3

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-29308401556045835482008-09-26T14:22:00.000-07:002008-09-26T14:25:17.103-07:00

Here's something fun for a Friday afternoon courtesy of our friends at Nintendo.http://www.youtube.com/experiencewiiWatch the entire thing to get the full effect.My kids really like this one, it's very creative and unexpected, and totally family friendly.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-35681708543545858082008-09-24T10:34:00.000-07:002008-09-24T10:40:12.662-07:00

I wanted to send out an proposed agenda for tomorrow's web training meeting.The purpose of this first meeting is to start from the basics of getting NextComp setup. The second webinar will cover market pricing aspects of the system. The third meeting will cover reports and analysis.NEXTCOMP.NETWeb Training Part #1Thursday, September 25th10:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time / 1:00 PM Eastern Daylight

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-89586728732611250902008-09-17T22:39:00.000-07:002008-09-17T22:46:40.072-07:00

My good friend at Neighborhood Health in Seattle sent me a link to the announcement for the 25th Annual Festival at the Market. Here's a blurb about this fantastic event:"This is one fabulous night in the Pike Place Market where you'll have an opportunity to support community healthcare while trying out some of Seattle's best restaurants!Feast at the Market is a progressive dinner throughout the

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-72013271943556446242008-09-17T14:05:00.000-07:002008-09-17T14:32:44.624-07:00

I just listened to a really interesting interview with Dave Duffield CEO of Workday. Dave Duffield is famous for being the founder of Integral and Peoplesoft as well.I was fortunate enough to visit the Workday headquarters in 2007. I met some of the founders of the company, but I didn't have a chance to meet Mr. Duffield. I believe he was out of town that day. I was very impressed with the

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-88761400229302069012008-09-16T09:55:00.000-07:002008-09-16T09:59:09.856-07:00

We've rescheduled the "New Features In Version 3" webinar from September 18th to September 23rd.Here's the new date and time information:New Features In Version 3Tuesday, September 23rd10:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time (local time)Register for September 23rd webinar

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-41167917383161688382008-09-15T14:57:00.000-07:002008-09-15T15:24:36.908-07:00

I received an e-mail today from a subscriber which prompted me to do a little research into NextComp's compatibility with Internet Explorer 6 (IE 6).Our project management website, Basecamp, is dropping support for IE 6 in October of this year. This prompted a subscriber to question whether NextComp was also dropping support for IE 6.IE 6 was released in 2001 and has since been upgraded to IE 7.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-29315601095878047072008-09-11T21:49:00.000-07:002008-09-11T22:03:14.950-07:00

Thank you to Michael at Zendesk for sending me a free FM3 Buddha Machine. It's a small self-contained music player with 9 different soothing songs. Well, not really songs, more like clips that range from 2 to 40 seconds. The clips repeat until you flip a switch to play a different clip. My 7 year old daughter loves to listen to soothing music at bedtime, so as a surprise gift I gave it to her

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-49684005207071799282008-09-08T10:20:00.000-07:002008-09-08T10:47:37.212-07:00

I've been testing NextComp Version 3 using Google's new browser called Chrome. So far, I'm impressed. Overall the browser if fast and clean. In fact, the browser is so minimal that it almost just disappears into the background. All I'm aware of is the application, not the browser. A side benefit is that Chrome also works great with the current version of NextComp. It works better than Safari

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-44840530835595999692008-09-05T10:11:00.000-07:002008-09-05T13:51:54.365-07:00

Here's another trick that I've been using in preparing data files for loading into NextComp.Many surveys display the survey result amounts in 1,000's, for example, "$54,500" is displayed as "54.5" in the Excel report from the publisher.NextComp expects the survey data to be in hourly or annual amounts. If we load the data as it is displayed, NextComp will assume that the data represents an

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-38744541599015964702008-09-02T21:30:00.000-07:002008-09-02T21:56:54.800-07:00

Excel 2007 has a new feature called "Remove Duplicates". This is really a handy new tool, especially when importing survey job summaries.There are many times where you'll need to remove duplicate rows of data when importing survey job summaries. Many survey files contain job summaries that are integrated with the survey data. This can pose an issue with importing data into NextComp. NextComp

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-82722987049622979362008-08-31T21:59:00.000-07:002008-08-31T22:25:05.783-07:00

I hope you had a great weekend. It was Labor Day Weekend here in the States. It is also the last weekend of summer for my kids. School starts on Wednesday, September 3rd.A new school year is always exciting. This year is especially exciting as my oldest daughter is headed of to middle school. Middle school starts at 6th grade and covers 7th and 8th grade. A new experience for her and us.

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-46287751993309445942008-08-28T11:00:00.001-07:002008-09-16T10:01:43.528-07:00

One of the great ideas that came from the User Group meeting is to have a series of three webinars each quarter. The webinars will have a logical progression starting with the basics of getting setup with NextComp, moving on to data loading and market pricing and finishing with reporting and analysis. So we're going to start this new webinar series in September.The training webinars will be

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-40737516912703001822008-08-27T09:51:00.000-07:002008-08-27T13:33:30.410-07:00

Thank you to the attendees of the 2008 Boston Area User's Group meeting. A special thank you to Dynamics Research Corporation for hosting the meeting and for providing lunch and an amazingly delicious platter of cupcakes for dessert. I limited myself to one cupcake, which wasn't easy. I'm going to be sending each of the participants a copy of the presentation via Basecamp.Also, as of today,

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-62201270806170972682008-08-23T20:18:00.000-07:002008-08-23T21:06:32.333-07:00

We started our walk of The Freedom Trail at Bunker Hill in Charlestown.Charlestown is a beautiful area. We met a really nice woman on our walk. She even offered to let us tour her condo. The building used to be owned by Sam Adams family and some of his relatives lived there. It was so cute and full of old world charm, but with updated amenities.One of the cool parts of seeing Bunker Hill was

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25172184.post-20329784057742598112008-08-22T22:05:00.000-07:002008-08-22T22:14:54.557-07:00

My wife and I arrived in Boston this afternoon. I'm here for a meeting on Monday, August 25th with several subscribers from the Boston area. Seattle and Boston are very similar: near water, easy to walk, great food, world-class healthcare, world renowned higher education, and best of all, friendly people. There are some differences though. Seattle has much milder weather, Boston has much

Matt Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16831778965567677321noreply@blogger.com0