Put a little creativity into your daily work!

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.

1. I reached 100 followers on Twitter on Wednesday. Thank you to everyone that is following me! Follow me at http://twitter.com/nextcomp
   
2. I finished the "mapping" tool for moving data from Version 2 to Version 3. This has allowed NEXTCOMP.NET to begin migration/upgrading subscribers to the new version. We're doing this as quickly as possible and also to meet the schedules of our subscribers. We want to work with you to meet your needs on this upgrade.
3. I've signed up for the "3 Day Novel Content". Basically I'll be writing a 100 page novel over Labor Day Weekend. Crazy? Yes! Fun? You bet! If you're interested or if you've already signed up, drop me a line and we can compare notes!
4. Bob and I will be hosting the first ever "nextcompTV" show next Tuesday at Noon Pacific Daylight Time. In the video I mention that it will be at 10:00 AM, but we've decided to have it at Noon instead. So tune in here next Tuesday at Noon PDT at this web address: http://www.ustream.tv/nextcomp
5. I'll be at the Northwest Compensation and Rewards Forum lunch next Wednesday in Seattle. It's a panel discussion this quarter. It should be good and I hope to see you there, if you're going that is!
6. I have an interview lined up for the following week with a well known human resources/ compensation consultant. She and I will be discussing communication and the importance of getting the word out to the organization about compensation related changes and programs.

That's it for this week. More exciting updates next week and be sure to follow me on Twitter for daily updates!

New Blog Header

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!

The Tweet In Review

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 app design guide available (specifically for .NET but good general discussion) http://tinyurl.com/72ybed 3:26 PM Jan 10th from TweetDeck

At The Water's Edge: http://tinyurl.com/79vup2 12:35 AM Jan 13th from twitterrific

Interesting article relating psychology and organizational design http://tinyurl.com/7ormq6 9:44 PM Jan 14th from TweetDeck

Employee engagement zingers by David Zinger http://tinyurl.com/74jbq5 9:45 PM Jan 14th from TweetDeck

Foggy start to the day http://tinyurl.com/7qajcu but a spectacular ending to it http://tinyurl.com/9dqsk8 11:19 PM Jan 14th from TweetDeck

Check out this great photographer: http://www.michaelcogliantr... 10:57 AM yesterday from TweetDeck

Slowing economy hits Google http://tinyurl.com/9dn7qq 11:16 AM yesterday from TweetDeck

Giving Evernote http://www.evernote.com/ a spin on Max OS X and iPhone 3:41 PM yesterday from TweetDeck

Interesting blog post about performance review programs, or the lack of... http://tinyurl.com/7pde58 about 3 hours ago from TweetDeck

Five essential tools for the Internet worker

Here are my top five favorite tools for working on the Internet. I define an Internet worker as anyone that can work anywhere anytime as long as they have a computer and an Internet connection. And coffee. Of course.

I just updated the template for the NextComp blog. Check out the Twitter update over there on the right --->

That got me thinking about all the great tools I use that are completely web-based. So here's my top four web -based tools.

• Blogging: for keeping track of what's going on. I use Blogger and Typepad to write blog entries and Bloglines to keep track of other blogs.
  
• Twitter: for quick "status" updates.
  
• Basecamp - for organizing my work life.
  
• Help desk - I use Zendesk for taking a load off my mind and building an online knowledge resource.

The last essential tools is Mac OS X. The Internet is so deeply ingrained in the OS that it makes working a breeze. Plus I can run Windows virtually for my development work.


What about Facebook and MySpace? I don't use them, although I know a lot of people that do. I just don't have a need at the moment. Maybe in the future.