clients

Feedback on ‘Communicating financials to management: Developing effective reporting mechanisms’

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Back in August, I gave a presentation for CPA Australia at Royal on the Park, which had as its objectives:

  • How to develop effective reporting mechanisms that ensures data of high integrity and quality
  • Responding to management information needs: how to develop a process that ensures timely response
  • Other key reporting and systems issues that affect how information is presented and used

I note incidentally that I haven’t posted my speaking notes online yet – I must do that.

Anyway, feedback was good, even if I’ve not picked up any clients out of it :).  Here is the feedback the presentation received:

Session Title:    ‘Communicating financials to management: Developing effective reporting mechanisms’
Venue:     Royal on thePark, Brisbane
Date:     26/8/2008

Your overall Rating:    4.35
Technical Content rating:    4.52
Presentation Material rating:    4.43

All comments specific to your presentation

  • Good presenter. Liked the way he asked what people wanted out of session & made sure he covered those points.
  • Very good presenter. Showed a great awareness for presenting on & answering what we wanted to get out of the session. Terrific.

I continue to thank Alan Anderson for showing me his tactic of plain old ‘ask the audience what they want’ for presentations.  The audience, not surprisingly, always seems to appreciate it, and it’s hard to miss the mark if you can at least link back to those dot points.

Of course, if someone comes in for the wrong session it can be very entertaining.

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Living with the HP2133 Mini-Note

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I note that Dell has just released its UMPC equivalent, the Dell Mini-9.  Of course, when you see a new release in the market you’ve just bought into (clearly, I bought the HP2133 Mini-Note), you get a case of buyer’s remorse. 

However, from what I can tell the Dell is smaller and of course this is at the case of a crippled keyboard.  When everything I do on the computer – that is serious work, anyway – needs a good keyboard, the keyboard is a deal-breaker for me.  I type at about 120wpm, and I find the Mini-note keyboard to be excellent to type on, without the need to cripple the keyboard (no function keys, no F11, F12, etc). 

The Mini-Note isn’t perfect, of course, but it’s more than livable with.  I also seem to be the only person in the western world so far who is sticking with Vista.  It is livable, and most of my needs aren’t high-level. 

After three months using it now I’d note the following:

  • Machine runs hot.  Really hot.  Unbelievably hot.  Keep the vents ventilated.
  • Battery life is abysmal on the three-cell.  On high-performance, I doubt that I’m getting an hour out of it.  I’ve got my 6-cell battery on order which should keep me on stream for longer and it’s only $A129, so you know, that’s good.
  • Screen glare means that working in full sun is off the menu.  Shouldn’t do that in Australia anyway.
  • Size/form factor is very convenient, and having the disk space is good as well.  A 16GB SSD is all very well and good, but if I do want to do some relatively serious work I like to have my library with me.  I’d be tied to a portable hdd if I did that, which is inconvenient and quickly removes weight advantages.  No problem so far with the HDD over the SSD (famous last words?).
  • Keyboard is great, fantastic, what can I say?
  • Lots of good ports
  • Performance is very adequate, even with Vista (I do have the higher-spec processor and 2GB of RAM – I shudder to think what it would be like on the lower-specification).
  • Sound is excellent but of course that chews power
  • I have tried to run full-size videos on it from time to time and it does glitch up.  But you should keep in mind the purpose of the machine.

It’s very easy to live with. Size and weight are great.  I let it roll around in my messenger bag (a very manly handbag) and that doesn’t seem to have scratched it or anything.  The shell is nice and durable and doesn’t seem to be fingerprint prone. 

I have a full-size laptop for when I want to do a lot of mobile work.  But if I’m going to be wandering all over the city for a day with an hour or two in the middle to fill in (I work at clients from time to time, am studying at UQ, and lecturing at QUT), the HP 2133 mini-note is my favourite to whip out and work with.  In a pinch I could do full size work with the laptop (but you have to watch backpain!  Scourge of the modern world!).

Since I installed Office 2007 (another of Microsoft’s crimes against humanity), I’ve noted that one truly annoying feature of HP’s seem to be the HP Health Check, HP Network Centre, and so on suite of software.  By default, they’re set to use the same really useful keyboard shortcuts that Outlook uses.  I found myself typing ctl+shift+C and expecting to see a new contact, and getting the HP Health Check.

The trick is to go into the program shortcuts on the start menu and remove the shortcut keys assigned to the program there.  Why on earth anyone thought that was a good idea, I don’t know. 

Anyway, no real regrets so far.  The laptop also seems to be the coffee shop equivalent of a Porsche convertible – it does get admiring glances from waitresses at coffee shops who say how ‘cute’ it is.  My only response to that is that it is cute in a Very Manly Way.

This UMPC is dearer but it’s more functional and usable (keyboard for the win!) than certainly the ASUS eee pc and I think than the Dell Mini-9 (haven’t put my hands on one of those yet though).  If you need the convenience, want a laptop that doesn’t feel like a toy, and you could work with all day if you really, really had to, the HP2133 Mini-note wins on the points that matter.

Just buy the 6-cell battery and get asbestos underpants.

A ‘Guest Post’ for CPA Congress

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A little while ago CPA Australia requested that I write a guest post for them for publication on the CPA Congress blog (cpacongress.wordpress.com), with the purpose of promoting my upcoming social networking workshop in Melbourne on social networking.  That post went live on Friday.  You can find the guest post at http://cpacongress.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/online-social-networking/, and I reproduce the post here for posterity, who I am sure will be so grateful they will come down to the retirement home to turn off Wheel of Fortune 2050AD. 

Looking forward to giving the workshop in Octobrer.

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It’s all fun until someone loses an eye. Then – it’s a sport.

In the same way, online social networking started out all in good fun. Somehow, online social networking moved away from the thumbs of tech-savvy Gen Y and into mainstream media. When someone lost their job though because of something they did online that their boss didn’t like, social networking became business. Nowadays it feels like there are tabloid journalists searching Facebook, MySpace and YouTube looking for a new angle and a new career to destroy – but that may perhaps be paranoid. Still, if you’re into muck-raking it’s more effective than going through someone’s wheelie-bin dumpster-diving for dirt – it’s cleaner, there are fewer pizza cartons involved, and it can all be done from the desk with a few mouse-clicks.

People do some silly things on online social networking websites. People also carry out private conversations in public forums. These activities can sometimes affect a business. All too frequently people are afflicted by a lack of common sense when they use online social networking websites like MySpace, YouTube and FaceBook (and at least 126 other social networking websites according to Wikipedia). When common sense flies out the window, the business can pay the price.

Ask the teacher who posted ‘lewd’ photos on Facebook the price of tabloid infamy (what, 12 year-olds don’t Google?). Ask the new owner of a motor dealership who did not know that a previous customer had written an online post advising prospective customers to ‘avoid them like the plague’ – three years on, it’s still there and showing up when new customers Google the dealership. Ask the owner of the store how she feels about the time a customer ‘twittered’ about bad service – before the customer had even left the store, the message was received by 789 of her ‘followers’. Then you could ask the shareholders of a company whose support technician was videoed asleep on a customer’s couch – and then the video posted to YouTube. Of course, that’s just plain funny, but it can’t be helping the brand strategy, can it?

There may also be some regrets for the partner of a consulting firm whose photo was posted online by a member of his staff – complete with his Hitler moustache, swastika, and doing a Nazi salute. Not a good look – but it’s still there, so maybe he doesn’t know about it! Or the married couple, a photograph of whom was uploaded to Photobucket – they were passionately kissing at the office Christmas party. Their main concern was that they were married, yes, just not to each other. I’m sure I don’t need to discuss the ‘Vlog Naked’ campaign. You get the drift.

Some of these firms know that these things have appeared online. Many businesses though do not know. In fact, when it comes to social networking, some businesses are slower on the uptake than a turkey at Thanksgiving.

What can businesses do about their online reputation?

There is hope! Those attending CPA Congress this year have the opportunity to participate in a workshop I am running called ‘Facebook, MySpace, YouTube & Flickr – managing and leveraging the business impact of social networking sites’ on Thursday 16 October. It’s not a great title, but at least it’s descriptive. This is a companion workshop to a forthcoming CPA Australia Information Technology & Management Centre of Excellence publication – a Guide to managing the business challenges that arise from online social networking.

This workshop provides an overview of social networking, discusses practical steps people can take to ensure their personal privacy, and walks through a process that businesses can use to develop policies and procedures that mitigate the negative impact of online social networking. The workshop also provides an insight into some of the potential business applications of online social networking. As a result, attendees at this workshop will be able to respond to the business challenge of social networking according to their requirements, and receive some practical pointers in helping their staff understand what they should and shouldn’t do online.

This workshop also promises to be a bit of fun – honestly, you never knew how much fun you could have with AS/NZS 4360:2004, did you? At the end of the workshop, participants will definitely have a firmer insight into online social networking and how to ensure that this new technology works for the business, not against it. Attending this workshop will equip you with the basic tools to use online social networking safely and to develop a policy approach that will limit the impact of online social networking upon the business.

Micheal Axelsen FCPA is Director of Applied Insight Pty Ltd and provides business systems consulting advice to clients. Micheal will be presenting ‘Facebook, MySpace, YouTube & Flickr – managing and leveraging the business impact of social networking sites’ at CPA Victoria Congress on 16th October 2008.

Tag Clouds for fun and profit

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We had our ITM CoE meeting on this immediate past Tuesday, where in a case of life imitating social media I got to meet Mick Leyden in-the-flesh, as it were, after meeting on Twitter. 

In the course of discussions around the table, one topic that came up – quite apart from the topic of, somehow, Viagra – was using tag clouds as a way of communicating the big issues to clients from interviews.  One of our members, Shauna, had thought of tag clouds for blogs, but not in the context of using it to show a client and reflect back what they have said.  I recently used the tag cloud, www.wordle.net, to demonstrate to a client what I’d gleaned from my one-on-one interviews with them. 

It was really helpful to just demonstrate what had been said.  Interestingly, the conclusions of priorities after three hours of analysis were just about the same as just running the text through the tag cloud generator.  But of course, less valid.

Anyhoo – if you want a way to brighten up the results of interviews, I would heartily recommend this as a new way to communicate the message.

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HP 2133 Mininote Update

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Still a good machine to work on.  Showed it to my physio who was very happy with the way the screen folds back – don’t have to hold your neck at an unnatural angle as much as some bigger notebooks he’s seen. 

Used it on my recent trip to Townsville – I think though that if you have neck and back problems (like I do) you have to be careful not to hurt your back with poor posture (although, it’s great for laying back in an armchair while you type away, that’s not something that clients tend to like!). 

The machine was great to work on and fine for giving a Powerpoint presentation.  Don’t expect to play Age of Conan on it – a graphically demanding game.  In fact, don’t expect to pay pretty much any game out in the past three years, particularly if you stick with Vista (as I have done so far). 

You get much better battery life if you turn off the wireless – about an hour and a half I felt.  You can get better battery life too if you switch it to the ‘power saver’ mode – but if you do that, expect to feel jealous of people with an abacus nearby.  It is probably a good idea if you load up your required program, and then turn on power saver.  Seriously – I was copying about 100MB to my USB stick and it was scheduled for 15 minutes.  I upped the power to high performance – et voila, 3 minutes. 

A seriously good machine that I can use, with a decent hard drive on it and a great little screen.  I need to be better with posture though when using it (incidentally, I think the 6-cell battery would be bad for ergonomics, not good, since it raises it up at the back which will throw your neck out something shocking). 

Screen is still no good in daylight. 

As for problems – still none after several weeks use.  It was good to work on on the plane (brilliant in fact) and plenty of grunt for doing work (unless you’re into graphically intensive stuff, who needs that kind of power – maybe if you had a large spreadsheet it would be a problem). It’s great to type on.  I did five hours of interviews using it and it was very usable (again, watch the posture, probably my main beef so far).  I even installed it on my 22" monitor and the speed was perfectly adequate.

I just won’t try to play Age of Conan on it,