User Group Thank You And WorldatWork Booth in Seattle

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 Up

Thank you to those subscribers that attended the 2009 Northwest Area User's Group meeting held on Monday, March 30th at the Port of Seattle's offices on the waterfront. A huge thank you to Tammy Woodard, Ann McClellan and Hugh Hastings for hosting the meeting, helping setup, and take down and for the help with getting all the food and beverages moved from my car, to the room and back. Also, thank you to Tracey for bringing lunch and to Bob for stopping by at lunch to say "Hi" to the group. It was an excellent meeting and we discussed and generated some really good ideas for Version 3. Everyone, including me, is eagerly anticipating the full release of version three starting in April.

Version 3 Upgrades

A quick note to existing subscribers: we are upgrading each subscriber on a one-by-one basis on a time line to meet your needs. We will contact you when we are ready to proceed with the upgrade OR you can contact us and let us know you are ready. We will not be automatically moving everyone over, primarily because we know some of you are in the middle or just starting your annual analysis. We don't want to interrupt the annual process. We want to be sensitive to your time line and needs.


2009 WorldatWork Exhibit Booth

It's only the first of April, but my mind is already moving to the end of May and the WorldatWork conference and exposition being held in Seattle this year. Yay, it's in Seattle this year! This makes the logistics of setting up a booth and attending the conference much easier for me since I live in the area. The last time the conference was in Seattle was in 2000. I remember that we had an incredibly warm and beautiful week of weather during the conference. I hope that holds true for this year as well.

Here's a link to a "free pass" to the exhibit hall. If you are not attending the full conference, but you want to wander the aisles of the exhibit hall, just print these passes, fill them out, and you can wander to your heart's content.

http://www.worldatwork.org/pub/Expopass_09.pdf

So if you're in the area, or if you coming from out of town, I hope you have a chance to stop by booth 1330 and say "Hi".

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!

Boston User Group Wrap-up

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, NEXTCOMP.NET Gamma is going to be known as NEXTCOMP.NET Version 3.

Based on feedback during the meeting we've decided to go with the version number rather than the fun sounding but rather cryptic gamma designation.

There was a great exchange of ideas, tips, tricks, and other information during the meeting. We'll be incorporating that feedback into our programming on Version 3. Stay tuned!

Headed To Boston

I'm headed to Boston to meet with Boston area NextComp subscribers. I'll be out of the office on Friday, August 22nd and Monday, August 25th. I'll be checking e-mail and voicemail in the evenings. I hope you have a great weekend!

2008 Boston Area User's Group Meeting

It's that time of year again (already?!?) to host the annual User's Group meeting in Boston.

Dynamic Research Corporation has graciously offered to host the meeting this year. Thank you!

The meeting is scheduled to run from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM on Monday, August 25th. We've found that 5 hours is generally enough time to cover the major topics. We can run over a bit if we need extra time.

The meeting location is:

Dynamics Research Corporation
60 Frontage Road
Andover, MA 01810

I'm sending out invitations today, so if you are a subscriber in the Boston area, expect an invitation soon.

I'm also available for speaking engagements in other areas, at local compensation and benefits group meetings, for example. Contact me if you are interested in having NEXTCOMP.NET as a presenter at one of you local meetings.

We'll be hosting a Seattle area User's Group meeting in September, so keep an eye out for that announcement.

Upcoming Webinars

We are holding a series of webinars starting on August 28th to discuss the new Gamma version of NextComp and field questions for you regarding market pricing, compensation modeling, technology in HR, and any other related topics that come up during the meeting. You're welcome to join us. We have three scheduled so far.

Webinars are limited to 15 attendees so register early! We'll schedule more as needed, if these dates fill up quickly.

Webinar #1

August 28th at 1:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time (check for your local time)

Register for August 28th webinar

Webinar #2

August 29th at 9:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time (check for your local time)

Register for August 29th webinar

Webinar #3

September 18th at 1:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time (check for your local time)

Register for September 18th webinar

Seattle Area Subscriber Group Meeting & Photo Friday

Mark your calendars for Monday, September 24th!

We have a room reserved at the Hilton Garden Inn in Issaquah, Wa. for our Subscriber Group meeting. The meeting is scheduled to start at 9:30 AM and run no later than 3:30 PM. A continental breakfast will be provided along with a very nice lunch. We'll be covering a lot of ground related to NextComp, CompModel, our salary planning application and other areas of interest to you. Elliott Miller and Kelly Christison will be in attendance as well, so you can meet some of the other faces behind the scenes at NextComp.

I still have a glow from my visit to Boston so here are a couple more pictures from that trip.

Beacon Hill


Sunset On Glass


Back in my neck of the woods, I know it's late summer when the fruit trees are heavy with fruit. These were taken at a park not more than 200 yards from my office.

Apple/Pear


Purple Plum