New animated video on YouTube--Breathless Mom Project Conversation

Just released on YouTube--a Breathless Mom Project Conversation animated video.  Melissa and Susan engage in a conversation about the Breathless Mom Project at the coffee area at work.  As they talk about the project, both agree to work with JoelMonty to get more people involved in working on and with the project.
I've learned over the years that cartoons--and now, animated videos, can do more to convey a message than email, face-to-face, or video-conferences.  While this may not be true for long-term messages, it is very true for small, tight messages.
Anyway, check-out the video, get involved with the Breathless Mom Project and tell me what you think.

Need Help With "Breathless Mom" Project

(Reprinted from JoelMontyPresents.com, JoelMonty’s Facebook Fan Page)

Sharlie, Our Breathless Mom

Sharlie is a 32-year-old mom suffering from cystic fibrosis–a lung disease that is genetic and life-threatening–life-ending.  I had a close friend in high school who suffered from the disease and who died at an early age.  Please watch the YouTube video about Sharlie and her family.

I have been working for several months with a group of caring Internet professionals who have decided to band together to make a difference for Sharlie–and for the people willing to help this Sharlie project.

This is not a non-profit (501C3) charity, there are no tax breaks for donating or participating.  We are in a hurry to raise funds for Sharlie and for others.  Some of these professionals have donated information products that normally sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars.  Others have donated their time and expertise.

Sharlie isn’t looking for handouts–though donations for Sharlie can be made on the Breathless Mom Project website.

The people behind the project want this to be a “win-win” for everyone involved.  How that works is that a variety of products are being sold at greatly reduced prices by people affiliated with the project.  People purchasing these products get real value from their investment and most of the money goes to help Sharlie.

I’ve purchased product and am looking to replicate what I’m doing.  At a minimum, I need three people to commit to purchase a product and to find three others to purchase a product. If we can do that, when it happens 11 times we will have generated Sharlie’s million dollars.

Want Some Breathless Mom Products?

I’m one of the affiliates who is working to generate funds for Sharlie and for other worthwhile projects as well.  These links will get you to products I am promoting for Breathless Mom.

Bye, Bye, Butterflies
Brush and Brush Kids
How to Start a Business Without Losing Your Mind in 12-Easy Steps
Ultimate Consulting Challenge

Social Media Hat Trick–Score Profits with Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
EZ Pillars of Cash
EZ Affiliate Mastery

The Guardian of Heaven

Wow…You Don’t Look That Old!!

Want to join me in promoting the Breathless Mom Project and these valuable products? 

Contact me and I will give you the details of how we can work on this together.

Designing a VirtualU Learning Event

For much of the day I was a virtual participant using VirtualU's 3D software and attending the Virtual Edge 2010 Summit.  My purpose in attending was to pull together my ideas for designing a VirtualU learning event.  VirtualU is sponsored by VirtualBeginnings and Digitell.

Many of my learning design ideas I have already published in this blog.  (See post 1, post 2, and post 3.)  In preparing for a Virtual University Learning Event, I want to incorporate the lessons learned from designing and delivering ELACOMM98--a 2.5-day learning event for 200 communications executives that was held in Cannes, France, in May, 1998.  That event was designed over 12 weeks with a team of subject matter experts and a few learning designers.  Strategy was developed to included learning goals, an integrated, hands-on-learning design, and a series of learning events in teams and in large groups created around workplace simulations that allowed participant to build and practice relevant skills in a very supportive context including practice and learning coaches.  Watch the video for a brief summary.

What I am learning from my virtual attendance at the Virtual Edge 2010 Summit and at three other VirtualU 3D conferences, is the importance of using what I learned from ELACOMM98 and integrating that with understanding of the 3D virtual world and its offerings.  I am an active social networker on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.  One concept from today will be to work with my contacts and groups on LinkedIn to ask what people want and to be sure to design that into the event I will be designing.  Based on the feedback from the panelists at the Virtual Edge 2010 Summit, I will be creating a community (group) on LinkedIn about the learning event and will be hosting some "Velvet Rope" communities (people who are willing to engage in helping develop some of the events before hand and who will have a closer interaction with key people connected with the event).  I have hosted Yahoo Groups for years and expect to do some of the work of developing this new learning event using Skype, Yahoo Groups, and possibly Google Groups, as well as the group and event resources on LinkedIn.

There's another day (tomorrow) to the Virtual Edge 2010 Summit and I expect to be adding more ideas to my plans for the development of the VirtualU Learning Event.  If you want to participate, leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

Job-Hunting Strategies and Tips

A friend entering the job market asked me for some job-hunting strategies and tips.
Networking is sometimes the most effective way to hunt for jobs. 

Here's a link about conducting an effective job search from Career Builder.

Resume and Digital Portfolio

Having a good resume is important.  It's a building block.  Many recruiters want a Microsoft Word version--probably as a .doc rather than as a .docx.  I recommend getting help with the resume, through affordable help.  I worked with WordSharp.net to revise mine.  I started with a Microsoft Word template, then had the professionals at WordSharp fine-tune it to its present form.

A digital portfolio (a YouTube/TeacherTube video) promoting yourself is the latest step in "resumes."  It will be helpful to have one--find someone with the software to help.  You can see mine at this link. 

Job Hunting Websites

There are several websites to subscribe to.  All are free to job seekers, then most have fees for extra services.  Some of those extras are worthwhile and you'll have to check.

http://www.monster.com


http://www.jobfox.com

http://www.careerbuilder.com


http://www.myjobhunter.com

http://www.theladders.com 

Search Engines

You need to set-up search engines to look for likely jobs for you to apply to.  Each of these websites has its own search engine for you to use.  You can have these engines feed you the jobs they find on a daily or weekly basis.

Cover Letters

In many cases, you will need to create a cover letter for each application.  Remember to respond to the requirements of the job description in the cover letter to show how you are a match for what they are looking for.

Tracking Applications

It's a good idea to set-up a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (or a spreadsheet by another vendor) to track the detail of your applications.  I'm putting the headder data from my spreadsheet here.  I have a list of the different referral sources that I use and I make that a part of my spreadsheet.

Hints and Tips

Most of these websites offer hints and tips for your job search.  Be sure to read many and save the ones you like.

Some locations want lots of money to rewrite resumes or to publish them to lots of people.  Be selective.  More money invested doesn't necessarily lead to good results, especially in a down economy.

Be willing to volunteer for the experience, if you need it.

Social Networking Sites

While there are many social networking sites, LinkedIn seems to be especially focused for professionals.  Facebook and Twitter are also good sites, though some of the most practical business connections seem to come more consistently from LinkedIn.

Consulting Services and eBay

Finding consulting clients is challenging.  Directing potential clients to websites is "ify" at best.  Many of the independent consultants I network with say that their new clients almost always come "by word of mouth" from existing or previous clients.

In exploring more options to "spread the word"--beyond social networking sites such as LinkedIn, FaceBook, and Twitter, I have signed-up my Joelmonty.net website for some promotional services to get them recognized more by search engines.

I am listening to an audio book where the protagonist has marketed an "off-beat" consulting service on eBay.  I already use eBay and get my billing and payments through PayPal.  It makes sense to work with eBay to market my consulting services, especially my virtual consulting services.

From what I have seen on eBay's Consulting Services pages so far there is plenty of room for my services.  Now I have to work on the most effective ways to use eBay to market these services.

Communicating and Marketing Value

Communicating and marketing value are challenging, especially via the Internet and in today's economy.  Social Networking sites such as LinkedIn, FaceBook, and Twitter may help.  Search engines such as Google could help and, due to the sale of ad words and tags to make people rise to the top of searches, these engines may actually interfere with the ability of people to find the value they may be looking for.

Knowing how to adjust a website to offer a landing page that delivers value is a marketable skill.  Unfortunately, many people market this skill without having any particular skill to market.

One of my goals with DrM-Resources is to offer value.  I have a variety of interconnected websites and share information about what DrM-Resources offers.  Now I need to find ways to help people find it, even if this means creating another "landing-page" website that is more focused on the value people are interested in.

Courtesy and Respect--Slipping in the Times of Technology?

"Social graces" are often ways to demonstrate respect for one another.  One aspect of social graces in business is to respect the person you are contacting.  Today I had the experience of receiving a voice message from someone asked to contact me because of a posting on the Internet.  The person leaving the voice message did leave an almost unintelligible telephone number and a first name--and nothing more.  I don't know what business he represents or any details of why someone asked him to call me.  In speaking, he was out of breath when he left the phone number and I've relistened to the voice mail four times and am only missing one number.  I should find that tomorrow morning.

To respect me, the person calling needs to tell me what business name they work with and the purpose of their call. 

Families Keeping Up with the Speed of Technology

Today my 83-year-old cousin and his wife visited my 94-year-old mother in her retirement complex outside of Chicago.  Mom lives in a gated community and my cousin had not been in this area for more than seven years.  We spoke cell-phone to cell-phone to "guide them in" to the parking lot and up the stairs to Mom's apartment.  

They brought with them a scrapbook of my cousin-in-law's artwork spanning a 30-year career.  During our time together we spoke of an unpublished children's book that my cousin-in-law wrote and illustrated.  I am a registered electronic publisher even though I'm not presently publishing books.  They told me that they still have an electronic version of the book that we can probably bring up-to-date with technology, then submit for electronic publishing.  It would be great to give the public access to a book that has been waiting for publication for more than 20 years.

When they left to drive to their home several hours away, they left an important piece of paper that had been in the scrapbook.  Within 30 minutes of their leaving--long before they will have realized that the piece of paper had been left behind--I had scanned the paper and sent it off to them via e-mail, including links to several of the things we had talked about during the visit.

They'll get the e-mail when they get home, have the links to follow-up on our conversation, and can print a new copy of the important paper before they miss a beat.

The good news is that my 83-year-old cousin is active on e-mail and is staying up with all the technology.  That certainly makes communication at the speed of technology much more achievable.

Facebook is the social networking site used by many of my family members.  It's another way for us to keep in touch.

Networks and Priorities and Exceptions to Rules

Each of us has a system we use, consciously or unconsciously, to determine our priorities and choices--for our time, attention, value, commitment, money, and more.

I had a call this morning from a friend who knew someone who had had a family tragedy and needed some help.  During the course of that conversation, I became aware of some of the processes I use to determine those priorities and to make exceptions.  It is a normal priority for me to extend what support I can to friends who ask.  When a friend asks on behalf of another friend, I extend my priorities and exceptions to the friend-of-my-friend.

I've offered my support and don't know whether or not I'll be called upon to follow-through.  The experience has already lead to a "snap-shot-awareness" of how I work my processes for priorities and exceptions.  That's a good thing to know.

Any one of us could have a family emergency or tragedy without warning.  It's nice to have friends to connect to and to have those friends connect to people they know.  LinkedIn talks about networks and degrees of networks.   In my network, I have 55 friends;  2 degrees away (friends of friends) I can connect with their 7,600+ people; 3 degrees away (friends of friends of friends) I can connect with 747,800 people.  (Some of my family members are on FaceBook.

Want to join my network on LinkedIn?

Social Networking--Contact Lists--Memory Loss--Communication and Pictures

Social Networking--Now the focus of multiple apps (iPhone/iPod Touch applications) and websites, used to be the exchange of business cards and numbers at a variety of informal "networking" meetings.

I have been involved in professional and volunteer organizations for more than 30 years.  Between 1998 and 2002, I was very active in such networking organizations as the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and several professional organizations.  I look at old resumes and remember the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD), the International Foundation of Action Learning (USA Chapter) (IFAL-USA), the American Red Cross (ARC), the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), the Organizational Development Network-Chicago (ODNC) and local chapters of the national associations.

In 2002 I became active in teaching K-12 (after 9-11-2001) and joined several professional education associations.  Depending on what I am doing, I am active in several and some drop out due to a change of focus in my activities.  (I'll give you a list of newer organizations later in this post.)  I also earned a post-doctoral Master of Arts in Teaching degree in 2008 and networked with colleagues and professors at several universities and colleges.

"In the old days" (2002) I would exchange business cards, e-mails, write down names and addresses and enter everything into my Yahoo Contact List--yes, I had fancy contact software and everything seemed to collect in the easy to use Yahoo Contact List.  Unfortunately I didn't have photos of the people I was entering in the list and I didn't make notes on where I knew everyone from.  I just tried to keep the contact information of name, telephone number, and e-mail.

Now we come to the "new days" (or today) with the Social Networking Sites.  I stayed clear of many for a variety of reasons.  I had been invited to LinkedIn a long time ago and had registered without doing anything more.  This summer I was invited to LinkedIn again and decided to create a profile.  One of the first things LinkedIn asked me to do was to import my contact lists to see who I knew already.  I had my trusty Yahoo Contact List (which I had also used to create my G-Mail contact list).  I imported the contact list, then checked-off to invite anyone on my Yahoo Contact List who was already a member of LinkedIn to join my network.  The first day I reconnected with several friends I had not seen in years and was very happy about the LinkedIn connection.  There are some good discussion groups there and I added a couple of my own.  The focus of LinkedIn seems to be professional and I enjoy having those connections and reconnecting with people I haven't touched base with in years.

As with many contact lists, some of my e-mails were outdated and some people had changed their names.  Some of my invitations "bounced" and others didn't remember that we had been connected. 

When I'm faced with someone trying to connect with me, I can honestly say, "I don't remember our connection.  Please remind me or tell me why you think we should connect now."

If people would do that with me on these social networking sites, I would really appreciate it.  It would allow me to connect "in the present" and to find even more value in the connection.
Some of the other organizations I have belonged to recently (some of which I still belong to) are the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), the National Middle School Association (NMSA), the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), the American Library Association (ALA) and several divisions and sections of the ALA--including the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) who have a group on LinkedIn.

The economy has an impact on the disposable income available for membership in professional associations.  Some of the contacts and friends made endure much longer than memberships.
I've posted a picture on this blog, so you can see who is writing.  You can also find pictures on my profiles at all of my Social Networking sites and on my own sites such as http://www.joelmonty.net, http://drm-resources.wikispaces.com, http://joelmonty.wikispaces.com.  I want people to know who they are connecting with.

I believe in social networking--and have for years.  "All of us are greater than some of us"--That's on the poster picture of a school of fish forming the image of a shark in the water.  It's probably copyrighted or I'd post a picture here.