Latest Professional Development News & Articles

Does your startup have promise? If so, consider applying for SeedStart Media 2011, a 12-week summer program designed to provide seed funding to technology companies to build a product and launch their company. The summer program takes place in New York City and works to further develop the entrepreneurial sector and spirit of the Big Apple.

It’s the third week of the new year. If we’re being honest, some of those delusions, I mean resolutions, have already been put in the recycling bin for next year’s list. Now that you’ve put those annoying annual promises aside, instead of shedding pounds, consider packing on some new valuable skills to improve your career prospects.

Working with contractors or 3rd parties, like any relationship, is a two-sided affair. Here are some tips for keeping your Web projects running smoothly.

We are. Even though the Gilbane Group (news, site) was recently acquired, the show must go on.

Gilbane San Francisco, scheduled for May 18 - 20, has just opened up for registration. The conference promises four tracks to serve specific roles in the organization (marketing, IT, a business unit, or an internal function):

1. Customers & Engagement
2. Colleagues & Collaboration
3. Content Technology
4. Content Publishing

If previous Gilbane shows are any indication (check out our coverage of Gilbane SF and Gilbane Boston 2009), this one promises to have something interesting for everyone in the web content management industry and beyond. Gilbane SF 2010 will feature around 40 sessions, panel discussions, workshops, product labs and more.

Here’s some helpful information for you to check out the event and to register:

• Conference schedule
• Session descriptions
• Pre-conference workshops
• Registration
• Twitter: @gilbanesf

See you in San Francisco. Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair ;)

Bob Boiko, author of Laughing at the CIO and a speaker at the 2009 J. Boye conference in Philadelphia, advises information managers to get comfortable with saying no. You don't do it by practicing in front of a mirror, even if you're shy. Instead, you practice laying the groundwork to justify the no. In the process, you'll make better decisions and work with more effective people.

Now in its second year running, Enterprise 2.0 Launch Pad is a chance to pitch your products and ideas to some of the biggest names in the Social Media circuit. And in the spirit of “all things Web,” the organizers take the talent show online and challenge would be contenders to wow them via Twitter.

Conversations start on the web.

Customers often have their first interaction with companies on the web. Their actions can be guided effectively if designers can understand how customers act, on what they are naturally inclined to click and ultimately what they are wont to purchase.

Thank goodness designers can turn to decades of research in social psychology, behavioral economics and human decision making to help them make strategic design decisions.

Summer. San Francisco. Content management, social media and other related geekiness. Dreams do come true.

Gilbane just released their conference program for the June 2-4 Gilbane SF 2009 conference. Still under the motto of “Where content management meets social media,” the conference is focused on business implications of content strategies: from general content management decisions to using social media wisely.

As warranted by the current economy, every piece of the program is tied to the business impact of modern content solutions. There are four major areas to be discussed at the conference:

1. Web Business & Engagement
2. Managing Collaboration & Social Media: Internal & External
3. Enterprise Content, Search & Publishing
4. Content Infrastructure

While the content management industry may blur various lines within and outside of itself, for today’s businesses every decision and possible impact must be crystal clear. Dollar figures don’t appreciate any form of vagueness.

Conference attendees can select from more than 40 educational sessions, interactive panel discussions and workshops. Some of the topics include:

• Planning for a CMS
• WCM Team Building
• Web Content Management Best Practices
• Integrating Your CMS with Social Media
• Delivering Global Customer Experience in Challenging Times
• Justifying Enterprise Social Media Investments
• Improving SharePoint Search & Navigation with a Taxonomy and Metadata
• Content Integration Standards: CMIS and JSR 170/283

Product labs are also part of the deal. Another perk is direct interaction and one-on-one time with Gilbane’s community of enterprise practitioners, analysts, consultants and solution providers. Registration info is here.

We talk a lot about how important it is for enterprises today to manage their information carefully, keeping track of it and keeping it secure, yet accessible to the right people. Increased regulations have forced many to rethink the strategies and technologies they have in place today.

If you aren't sure what you need to do to get your business processes in order, then attend this one hour webinar called, "New Trends in Ultra-Critical Document Sharing: Case Studies You Can Put to Use Today".

Did you know: Businesses around the world create more than 7.5 billion documents and that 35% of these documents contain legally sensitive information? Thought so.

In most work environments and organizations, IS departments try to provide a shared place for users to store and interact with files. In a perfect world, every business critical document or file would be located on a centralized file share in a "safe and sound" environment such as a data center. This is a best practice because this critical (and sometimes sensitive) data is kept on redundant servers and is backed up.

However, how do content managers begin when thinking about how to manage unmanaged documents? That is, how does an organization try to handle all the documents and business files located on users' hard drives and shared folders throughout the network?

An upcoming AIIM webinar will aim to steer you and your organization in the right direction with regards to governing unmanaged data and files.

The webinar is on February 25th from 2:00-3:00PM EST and costs nothing to attend. It is hosted by Mark Diamond of Contoural.

Go to their website to register.

Creating relevant experiences is the goal of good web design. From landing pages to online advertising, a company's marketing strategy is just that, strategic. Or at least it aims to be. But how can you ensure that you are optimizing an exceptional online experience for customers that is also producing high return on investment? Being that the web is ever evolving to reflect users' behaviors, there isn't a magic pill.

Yes, we know we have already mentioned the J. Boye Conference coming up in Philly this May. It's just that… some good conferences are really worth mentioning more than once. And this one fits the bill. If you are looking to get more information on web content management and all that comes with it, then this conference is definitely one to attend.

Industry analyst, Steve Paxhia, of Gilbane's Publishing Strategy & Technology Practice, will make his top five predictions for 2009 in a free, one hour webinar, Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 2:00 PM Eastern / 11:00 AM Pacific.

Paxhia is expected to share highlights from a year-long study on digital publishing which included interviews with numerous industry leaders and visionaries.

In this report, entitled Digital Platforms and Technologies for Book Publishers: Implementations Beyond eBook,  Steve Paxhia of Gilbane Report identifies five trends that are drastically and quickly changing the landscape for information providers.

The presentation is expected to touch upon:

1. Domain expertise
2. Online discoverability
3. XML technology and Custom products
4. Communities influence on digital publishing strategies
5. POD print-on-demand trends.

All attendees will receive a copy of the completed research report from Gilbane.

If you are busy that day, sign up anyway and they will send you a link to the recorded event for later perusal. To register, go here.

It's been more than six months since we published our popular list of the Top 5 Wireframing Tools. Since then various readers have been eager to share with us their experience with the tools they have used for wireframing, information architecture and interaction design. We hear you!

Therefore, herewith we are are expanding the list, adding details and tying-in updates on the latest releases.

Continuing professional education can be one of the tools to make you more valuable and marketable in these uncertain economic times. Here’s an opportunity to learn more about SaaS Enterprise Content Management at a webinar hosted by SpringCM and Forrester Research.

Is Enterprise Content Management (ECM) an infrastructure platform or an application? What are the advantages and limitations of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) in ECM? These questions and more are to be covered at this webinar.

Did someone say you had MOSS installed in your organization? Still not sure how to use it to its maximum potential? Well then, here's a webinar that may interest you.

We have a couple of interesting conferences that are happening late this month and early March. Designed for the enterprise, these conferences tackle the tough issues of corporate communications and Enterprise 2.0.

Forrester isn't the only analyst firm taking a close look at Social Media. CMS Watch has taken a hard look at some of the top social software and collaboration tools on the market today. Unlike Forrester, however, they are looking at more than just community tools for interactive marketing.

If you have been unsure about how to use all these neat (yes I said neat) social media tools in a way that benefits your organization and not just ties up your employees time, this report will help.

There are just too many conferences for one person to attend. We are overcome with options on our favorite subjects. What to do, what to do…

Here are a few more coming up to make your decision that much harder.

They are flying through our inboxes as fast as hamburgers get flipped at MacDonald's. So we thought we better bring a few to your attention so we can read the rest of our email. The list of webinars that follows run the gamut of application development with Alfresco and IDV Solutions to content management with SharePoint and SaaS to Social Media Marketing - there's even a Twitter one for all your Twitter junkies.