Johnson & Associates, LLC

Census 2010

Guest Author: Ashley Hennig

 

With all of the TV and radio commercials for the upcoming Census, it seems that one would have to be unplugged to not know about the countrywide poll coming up this spring. So, in this day in age when technology rules, how have we not come up with a better system of polling the American people? It seems to me that sending out a mailer and sending Census employees door-to-door is an old-fashioned way of going about obtaining the information.

Since the Census is only conducted once every ten years, it looks to me like we have a wide window of opportunity to come up with new and improved ways of getting the answers that are needed. For example, the government could calculate birth and death certificates registered within the past decade to closely identify the current population. How do you think it would be best for the Census to be taken in 2020?

The Academy Awards

Guest Author: Ashley Hennig

Not surprisingly, the talk around the “water cooler” this morning has been all about the Oscars.

If you follow the Johnson & Associates blog, you know that both Joel and I are fans of the movie “Avatar”. I must say the overall plot wasn’t really anything spectacular… I’ve even heard it called “Dancing with Wolves” in space. However, nobody can argue the fact that the special effects were amazing and that the movie has an overall good message that leaves you with a nice feeling when you walk out of the theater.

I’m not an expert when it comes to this year’s Academy Awards (since the only other movie I’ve seen that was nominated under the Best Picture category was “District 9”), but I got to wondering, why did this movie that is the highest grossing movie of all time not win any of the coveted awards?

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences leadership is comprised of Officers and a Board of Directors, all of whom are representatives of the different areas of the industry. The membership is then comprised of approximately 6,000 representatives of the different areas of the industry who are invited to join, however that list is not made public. In the past few years, the list of new invitees has been made announced, but the actual list of members has never been public knowledge. These members are then the voters for the Academy Awards (www.oscars.org). So who exactly is determining the winners of the industry’s most prestigious awards? We may never know, and it may help explain the reason why the highest grossing movie of all time didn’t take home any of the little gold statues.

What did you think of this year’s Academy Awards?

Candidate Preparation vs. Letting the Candidate be Themselves

We lost a consulting opportunity this week. In the past I used to agonize over how it could have been averted. I've always been confident in my business eye and in just about everything to the point of being unrealistic. In my mind there isn't any way another competing business could have a better solution than what we had!

In today's market there is no shortage of highly skilled candidates who want the same position. The fact is that many consultants talk to one another and know who each is working with, where they're being submitted and interviewing, and how much each makes (this is always tricky as I've found exaggeration can be rampant). So what is the right thing to do with candidates in preparation for an interview? For our company, it's preparing them on the players, the project, and honest discussion about the environment, and then the business and financial benefits of the assignment. I've never, and my recruiters have never, told a consultant how to act or what to say. We've discussed client tendencies to ask certain types of questions in an interview and to expect more or less technical grilling from one client or another. But our philosophy is to let the recruiting process and our understanding of our clients and the candidates we've presented stand on their own merits.

Now, back to the one we lost. We lost it because the personality fit wasn't compatible. The consultant in question is very talented and fits very well in some environments. But they have a tendency to be very strongly willed and have firm beliefs in their work methods and practices. To some clients this can be seen as a positive attribute and to others a concern. This client felt concern and went to the next candidate in line. Had we coached this candidate to be someone in the interview they are not, we risk a poor client experience or reputation. Its small consolation but one that hopefully our clients have come to appreciate.

Winter... Wonderland?

Guest Author: Ashley Hennig

 

It appears Punxsutawney Phil was right, we are in store for more winter. Unfortunately in the midst of a tumultuous February that has proven to stack on even more snowfall records, there isn’t an end in sight! According to the Des Moines Register, our city has topped 50 inches of snow for the season, putting us only 22 inches short of the snowfall record set in the winter of 1911-1912 with a whopping 72 inches.

As a Des Moines transplant, and a native Minnesotan (where the average annual snowfall is close to the 50 inches we have experienced this year), I guess you might say I’m a bit more used to this weather than the rest of you! So in an effort to not utilize this blog as a public forum to complain about the weather, I say do what you can to make the best of the weather (we do, after all, live in the Midwest). Here are some ideas for embracing the winter:

·    Central Iowa sledding map

·    Skiing, snowboarding and tubing in the metro area

·    Ice skating rinks in Polk County

·    Des Moines cross country ski trails

Avatar

I went to this film over the holiday break with a couple family members. I can't see another film taking Best Picture for the year's Oscar nods.

The movie has a used theme but it doesn't short change the audience one bit. You're tied into the story and will marvel at the CGI and the characters visually. The sound and experience are phenominal.

I didn't see the 3D version but will go see the movie again just to experience this. Buy a large popcorn, a big soda and enjoy! I rarely dislike a movie I see in the theater's but the ones I love and will see again are few and far between. This film could bring about vast changes to the industry. Remember when 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' was cutting edge?

If you're interested in the technology behind the blockbuster, here's an interesting behind the scenes article: http://www.examiner.com/x-32162-LA-Business-Tech-Examiner~y2009m12d21-Behind-the-scenes-of-blockbuster-movie-Avatar-the-technology.

Is This Heaven? No, it's Des Moines.

Guest Author: Ashley Hennig

The popular joke, "Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa" loved by all Iowans is back with vengeance!

Working with IT candidates throughout 2009, many of whom have seen firsthand what the recession can do to a career, to a family, and to a city; hs us constantly looking for the silver lining. Well, the end of the year results are out, and it looks like Des Moines can boast more than just a silver lining.

Here are just a few of the accolades Des Moines has received over the past few months:

• MarketWatch ranks Des Moines as the best city for business in the U.S. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tortoise-wins-race-for-best-us-city-for-business-2009-12-16  
• Woods & Poole Economics forecast Des Moines to create 4,500 new jobs, with the finance and insurance sectors adding more than $100 million to the local economy and contributing to a population growth of 6,200 people this year. http://www.desmoinesmetro.com/newsroom/news/displayArticle.asp?idNewsroomArticle=611&idNewsroomWebsiteSection=1  
• MSN lists Des Moines as one of the 100 metro areas in the nation that have begun to recover from the recession. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33312701/ns/3303539  
• The ACCRA Cost of Living Index reports the living costs in Des Moines are 9% below the national average for the Third Quarter of 2009.     http://www.coli.org/  
• MSN ranks Des Moines as first in the nation for real estate as the "Most Livable Bargain Market". http://realestate.msn.com/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=22334217  

Loyalty, Money, and Tiger

I hear this AM on the way to the office that Lane Kiffin left Tennessee after one season to coach the USC Trojans. As the guest on the Dan Patrick Show says, 'He's the highest paid coach who never accomplished anything in history'. It seems that we hear more and more things from sports that aren't exactly high brow material any longer. Whatever happened to sports? What about character? What about loyalty? It really makes me appreciate Coach Frerentz of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

When I was in my 20's I couldn't stay put more than a few years at a job. I'd race through the learning curve, learn my craft, and want more challenge. Now I see how that could have caused my past employers some pain and cost. What do we think it costs organizations like the Tennessee Volunteers and the PGA Tour, or Nike when their representatives are in the news for all things ugly in sports?

I've read blogs on sites too numerous to mention regarding the title subject of this post. What I don't get is why people say things to the effect of not caring what an athlete or coach does so long as he/she wins. What we are hearing Athletic Departments say is the same thing. All in the name of money. TV and ratings rule the roost. Do we want our children and our society to give a pass continually so long as we're entertained? Am I simply too old for the world these days where I take it too seriously? Are my values old-fashioned to the point of being considered out of touch.

All I can say is I really don't care. Better I be all of these things than accept things as they are and they won't change. If I had to trade my ability to look myself in the mirror and face my family or peers for a seven figure bank account I'd rather be broke.

The Feds CIO

Upon reading a lengthy profile of the Obama appointed CIO, Vivek Kundra (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Names-Vivek-Kundra-Chief-Information-Officer/), in Information Week, I was both impressed and left wondering. Impressed with his credentials and business-like approach to the overbearing task of coordinating the Federal Government's IT operations. However wondering if perhaps some major issues are being overlooked or left out of his public strategy communications.

The article lists more CIO's in Federal Government than we have corn fields in Iowa. There are turf battles for funding, for prioritizing, and for control of overlapped services. At a time when the economy, environment, and global terror are the main stage, there are more challenges than manpower to tackle. He's lead the charge for a new dashboard that high-level Info Tech executives of the government can view and obtain data to help them run their business like a business.

But in all due appreciation of the magnitude of his job, I felt as if there were many unanswered questions about how IT could impact the nation and globe positively. Albeit politics seems to find a way to hinder progress, I see three main issues that IT might pursue:

1. Air traffic security - put in a system that screens everyone thoroughly and denies anyone tied to terrorism or their peers. People - you might need to get over your bashfulness. Once you're blown up mid-air no one will remember what your butt looks like.
2. Environment - Put some scientists on the job that are looking for real data versus parallel results that match their funding source. When well read people with actual brains can't make sense of which side is right about what is causing global warming, let alone what is global warming, how do we know that the money we're spending on programs is effective? Why is legislation being put into place that can adversely affect our economy at a critical time of recovery when the savings and environmental benefit appear fleeting.
3. Economy - It seems we're so busy trying to use IT to track what we're doing now that we might try to focus more on tomorrow's vision of IT and the world first. With national unemployment at 10% it seems there ought to be focus on lowering that number to 5% or 6%. And government jobs is not the best way to sustain a workable employment factor.

I hope everyone is thinking about these issues. I'm sure we all won't agree with how, what, and why but if our focus is common we'll do some good.

Virtual applications: What I'd Build if I Could...

I read InformationWeek every week and find all sorts of information. (Let me know if anyone wants a free subscription). Admittedly, much of what they write about is outside my comprehension technically but it remains a great source of trends, business intelligence, and opinionated content worth thought.

Today I read about mobile applications that enterprises are considering and developers are producing. The General Motors Cruze looks promising but they're hoping to sell some of them without customers visiting dealerships. We all learn about new applications for our iPhones and Blackberry's but if you're like me you're wondering when are the real good ones coming and why some are being developed in the first place. Here's what I'd build if I could...

• Groceries Now App: Need food? Only some deli? Check off what you need/want, route to your nearest participating grocer, pick up on the fly. Bill me monthly with a $25 monthly access fee.  
• Pandora in the Car: Internet radio is just ok. Give me a subscription to Pandora run right through my car's audio system. Eliminate me plugging in my Blackberry. Or better yet...
• The World's Biggest Media Library: Put every song, book, film, play, anything digital online to be accessed on demand through one portal instead of forcing everyone to have memberships to umpteen different sources of entertainment. I guess this more a business idea but still...
• Mobile Translator: Like Dragon Naturally Speaking but for the mobile device. Could be used to dial, play chess, written communication, documents, surfing the web. Anything to eliminate typing.
• Child Track: Want to know where your kids are? Give them a family plan device that directly reports location to the parent device real time without any footprint the children can access, deny, or disable.
• Banking: An application that would require widespread security and cooperative thought. Enter your personal encrypted financial site to access accounts, pay bills, schedule payments, receive payments, transfer funds, make investments, whatever you need. Use your Mobile Translator to quickly navigate.
• Voting: Tie into your local precinct to vote online. Furthermore, once our elected leaders are in office have auto updates sent to us regarding positions and upcoming votes on the floor so we can have input into their decisioning forcing them to vote the majority while encouraging citizen involvement.

I fully realize that some of this takes time, thought, and careful planning. But I figure we have a Zippo application on the iPhone so why not these?

Career Networking Through Social Media

I'm often asked about the use of social media sites while IT candidates are searching and networking for that next contract. We all know that networking is oftentimes the best way to land a new opportunity, but with the clutter of social media sites, it can be confusing, especially for those that don't use social media sites on a regular basis. Personally, I think LinkedIn can be a very effective tool since it is geared solely toward those who are interested in professional networking. Here are a few tips on how to best use LinkedIn in your career networking:

Ask colleagues or former supervisors to recommend your work. This is an easy way for a recruiter or hiring manager to validate the content of your resume and assess top qualities that are listed by the recommender, without having all prospective employers bombard these colleagues and former supervisors with reference checks.

Join groups that are relevant to your industry and specialty. Oftentimes recruiters and hiring managers also belong to these groups, and post jobs to the group's page. This can be an excellent way to hunt for opportunities that aren't always posted on other job boards, as well as find connections with those that are hiring. Some examples of groups include Consultants Network, Des Moines Job Seekers and The Cisco Voice.

Select your privacy settings so not everyone can view your full profile and only connect with people that you know. Connecting with someone indicates that you know that person well, and will grant that person access to other people you are connected with, provides them with updates on your activity and vice versa. Your resume is your key to your future, so it should be protected.

Guest Author: Ashley Hennig