Low Barometric Pressure

So why do doors on meeting rooms open inwards?

Barometric Pressure as people meeting for reasons of wanting to be in the loop, basically moving their heads from side to side scanning the room like the clown game in a side show and adding the same value.

Progressively stealing oxygen from the room and the longer it happens without someone saying why are we here what is the outcome? Who owns the next step? The less oxygen is left at the end.

Now think about what would happen if the door opened outward? The low pressure would suck the door against the jam sealing it shut and people outside would have no way to open it.

Conversely if the door opens inward the pressure may be so great that the door pops open on it’s own saving the lives of all inside or at least rescuers just need to turn the handle to let air in again, as the door slams open under the strain.

A fast thinking attendee could also pop the pins out of the hinges, this person of course would be killed be the door imploding toward them. They may see this as a merciful way to go, I think we just need to hold less meetings.

Low Barometric Pressure

So why do doors on meeting rooms open inwards?

Barometric Pressure as people meeting for reasons of wanting to be in the loop, basically moving their heads from side to side scanning the room like the clown game in a side show and adding the same value.

Progressively stealing oxygen from the room and the longer it happens without someone saying why are we here what is the outcome? Who owns the next step? The less oxygen is left at the end.

Now think about what would happen if the door opened outward? The low pressure would suck the door against the jam sealing it shut and people outside would have no way to open it.

Conversely if the door opens inward the pressure may be so great that the door pops open on it’s own saving the lives of all inside or at least rescuers just need to turn the handle to let air in again, as the door slams open under the strain.

A fast thinking attendee could also pop the pins out of the hinges, this person of course would be killed be the door imploding toward them. They may see this as a merciful way to go, I think we just need to hold less meetings.

Agencies SHOULD

I am rethinking how I would deal with elements of designs where a security control says agencies should...

I have been notionally sharing in the agencies should = do what you want because that seems to be how some folk read the guidance.

But of course this is garbage, so today is the day where “agencies should” actually means our risk assessment says... at least when looking at my projects

I'm thinking a few times it will really be "Computer says NO" or actually Agencies MUST.

Just thinking out loud

*** Update ***

To drive some context

“[–,IC-P,r] non-agency owned devices
6.8.9. Agencies should not allow devices not directly owned and controlled by the agency to be used with
their systems.”

Generally speaking there are many people who see the use of home computers for remote access as the only real method of large scale remote access, allowing for remote workforce in times of emergency or pandemic. I would be concerned that this would quickly lead to “Bring your own computer” policies becoming more of a norm.

I would need serious convincing that BYO Computer is sensible but remote access on the other hand I can see being a necessity in the short term.

So what would a risk assessment look like?

Agencies SHOULD

I am rethinking how I would deal with elements of designs where a security control says agencies should...

I have been notionally sharing in the agencies should = do what you want because that seems to be how some folk read the guidance.

But of course this is garbage, so today is the day where “agencies should” actually means our risk assessment says... at least when looking at my projects

I'm thinking a few times it will really be "Computer says NO" or actually Agencies MUST.

Just thinking out loud

*** Update ***

To drive some context

“[–,IC-P,r] non-agency owned devices
6.8.9. Agencies should not allow devices not directly owned and controlled by the agency to be used with
their systems.”

Generally speaking there are many people who see the use of home computers for remote access as the only real method of large scale remote access, allowing for remote workforce in times of emergency or pandemic. I would be concerned that this would quickly lead to “Bring your own computer” policies becoming more of a norm.

I would need serious convincing that BYO Computer is sensible but remote access on the other hand I can see being a necessity in the short term.

So what would a risk assessment look like?

Finding time to update this thing

Well our IT Graduate tells me I have not updated this in a while well thanks for the prompt Jay this is for you.

"Since I don't have all, well actually any, answers my plan is to work hard to continue to over-service our current clients, build the cash reserve so I can devote time to build sales and train up staff in our own brand of service delivery."
The first priority is trying to wind back his contracting to three days a week, and hopefully down to one.

Ha that lasted 6 weeks … L

So now doing a Major Infrastructure Modernisation Project which sucks me back to full time in an Enterprise role.

How will this affect my blogging?? Well it might get better as I describe a whole new problem domain, we shall see.

Cloud could make you look bad

OK I saw this headline and thought here we go…

IT warned: Cloud could make you look bad

Aussie government CIOs will soon face increasing pressure to explain why in-house ICT services take so long and are so expensive to deploy compared to cloud-based services, Ovum has said.

In a research note, director Steve Hodgkinson warned the cloud "will come to be viewed as the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to source basic commodity ICT services"….

I do agree Private cloud is the way for the Commonwealth to drive efficiency but it will require some very interesting collaboration and some leadership. Of course there will be issues with connectivity among security domains (I assume there is not a recommendation for a cloud service per classification) and management of that access, perhaps it will require security clearances for MANY more Public Servants and Professional Service Providers or build the many networks with air gaps between.

My point is IT deployment in Government takes time because of Architecture, Design, Build Engineering, Testing, Deployment and Maintenance. Solutions are Integrated, Data Protection is in place, there are SLAs, Security and Access Management is in place and there is a responsibility to the Users and Executive (Departmental and Government).

So what are my examples of cloud making CIOs look bad…

• How about 72 Hours without email? and having the Vendor say “there are no SLAs (service level agreements) offered on managed exchange, POP e-mail or webmail services.”
• A cloud services vendor making data available to other customers, the week before running workshops for Government IT Managers asking for their business?

I have other reservations and these are logistical and usability issues

• What about Identity Management? We use many applications in our business and I’d like to manage all of our Identity requirements. I know if you use a username and Password pair users make them all the same which is not optimal.
• What about customisation? This moves away from the cloud providers selling space / time on a cookie cutter basis and would drive up cost.
• and of course a cloud service we use has broken features and has not been updated in several months but our cloud dream is tainted by users asking when we will have some of the issues fully resolved. Yes this is a beta and we see promise so we persist BUT not really the promise of the cloud delivering no admin worries, rapid development / deployment and worry free user experience. One of the features is the out of cloud backup so no we don’t run EVERYTHING on this service.

So for me I think Government CIO’s may look bad in Delivery and Cost but better than the OOOOPs sorry but no SLA that makes the majority of cloud offerings cheap and agile.

Can we measure with the same stick????

Give me a cloud service providing 3500 Users with Email, Document sharing, filtered Internet, reliable and timely printing plus a Finance and CRM System. And compare an on premise solution.

People need to take scale into account and service level too.

So rolling my eyes I think here we go, Cloud Services Providers are the ASP’s of this decade this is NOT a panacea and far from the brave new world those with a cloud service to sell would have you believe.

IT warned: Cloud could make you look bad - Internet - iTnews Australia

Cloud could make you look bad

OK I saw this headline and thought here we go…

IT warned: Cloud could make you look bad

Aussie government CIOs will soon face increasing pressure to explain why in-house ICT services take so long and are so expensive to deploy compared to cloud-based services, Ovum has said.

In a research note, director Steve Hodgkinson warned the cloud "will come to be viewed as the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to source basic commodity ICT services"….

I do agree Private cloud is the way for the Commonwealth to drive efficiency but it will require some very interesting collaboration and some leadership. Of course there will be issues with connectivity among security domains (I assume there is not a recommendation for a cloud service per classification) and management of that access, perhaps it will require security clearances for MANY more Public Servants and Professional Service Providers or build the many networks with air gaps between.

My point is IT deployment in Government takes time because of Architecture, Design, Build Engineering, Testing, Deployment and Maintenance. Solutions are Integrated, Data Protection is in place, there are SLAs, Security and Access Management is in place and there is a responsibility to the Users and Executive (Departmental and Government).

So what are my examples of cloud making CIOs look bad…

• How about 72 Hours without email? and having the Vendor say “there are no SLAs (service level agreements) offered on managed exchange, POP e-mail or webmail services.”
• A cloud services vendor making data available to other customers, the week before running workshops for Government IT Managers asking for their business?

I have other reservations and these are logistical and usability issues

• What about Identity Management? We use many applications in our business and I’d like to manage all of our Identity requirements. I know if you use a username and Password pair users make them all the same which is not optimal.
• What about customisation? This moves away from the cloud providers selling space / time on a cookie cutter basis and would drive up cost.
• and of course a cloud service we use has broken features and has not been updated in several months but our cloud dream is tainted by users asking when we will have some of the issues fully resolved. Yes this is a beta and we see promise so we persist BUT not really the promise of the cloud delivering no admin worries, rapid development / deployment and worry free user experience. One of the features is the out of cloud backup so no we don’t run EVERYTHING on this service.

So for me I think Government CIO’s may look bad in Delivery and Cost but better than the OOOOPs sorry but no SLA that makes the majority of cloud offerings cheap and agile.

Can we measure with the same stick????

Give me a cloud service providing 3500 Users with Email, Document sharing, filtered Internet, reliable and timely printing plus a Finance and CRM System. And compare an on premise solution.

People need to take scale into account and service level too.

So rolling my eyes I think here we go, Cloud Services Providers are the ASP’s of this decade this is NOT a panacea and far from the brave new world those with a cloud service to sell would have you believe.

IT warned: Cloud could make you look bad - Internet - iTnews Australia

Channel Life – Reseller Profile in CRN this Month

Well after talking with Sholto about the media, I took a punt and spoke to him in the context of a reseller profile for CRN Australia. Well those of you who know me well understand I can talk under water and being perpetually 15 years old this is can be quite the concern. We covered many topics and spoke for about 40 minutes and exchanged a couple of emails.

I must say that I am really happy with the article but there are a very small number of things that are not quite right and we know how I am about things being just so but really they are small and folk probably wont even read in the detail I do, so all good

I do think that me reading the article before it was published would have made it perfect, and really I would not have changed a thing except the bits that were not quite right. That said I understand why the passage in my previous post is what it is, but in the case of this article it is a very Davidesque piece and I’ve been told that the article reads like a conversation with me. Very spooky.

· Can I request to see an article before it is printed?

You can ask, but a journo won’t show. If every interviewee was able to see the article beforehand, inevitably they would want to make changes, and then the difference between journalism and public relations disappears. The media’s promise to its audience is to give an independent assessment of the topic or person in question. However, in some cases you can ask to see your quotes, which are the parts of the interview the journalist intends to use. These can only be checked for accuracy; it is not an opportunity to censor your own comments.

Channel Life – Reseller Profile in CRN this Month

Well after talking with Sholto about the media, I took a punt and spoke to him in the context of a reseller profile for CRN Australia. Well those of you who know me well understand I can talk under water and being perpetually 15 years old this is can be quite the concern. We covered many topics and spoke for about 40 minutes and exchanged a couple of emails.

I must say that I am really happy with the article but there are a very small number of things that are not quite right and we know how I am about things being just so but really they are small and folk probably wont even read in the detail I do, so all good

I do think that me reading the article before it was published would have made it perfect, and really I would not have changed a thing except the bits that were not quite right. That said I understand why the passage in my previous post is what it is, but in the case of this article it is a very Davidesque piece and I’ve been told that the article reads like a conversation with me. Very spooky.

· Can I request to see an article before it is printed?

You can ask, but a journo won’t show. If every interviewee was able to see the article beforehand, inevitably they would want to make changes, and then the difference between journalism and public relations disappears. The media’s promise to its audience is to give an independent assessment of the topic or person in question. However, in some cases you can ask to see your quotes, which are the parts of the interview the journalist intends to use. These can only be checked for accuracy; it is not an opportunity to censor your own comments.

Mis-stepping with the media (Hopefully) Never Again

I’ve said some dumb things in my life and sometimes even to the media, so with some trepidation about saying things I might regret, I was chatting with Sholto Macpherson Editor of CRN Magazine at ExpoTech in Canberra. A day or so later I asked him for some advice about the media, I posed some questions and he graciously agreed to let me blog it. Here is the whole transcript of the media relations topic…

Good to talk with you on Wednesday, this can either be an idea for you to write or also happy to do it through my blog, but I think folk don’t really know how to deal with the media, at least I don’t. So how do we get the basics out there?

My questions would be…

· How do I control what gets printed?

The short answer is, you can’t. It’s the difference between PR, whom you pay to put out a message that you have control over, and the media, which reports the facts as accurately as it can. At least that’s the theory. People talk to the media for a variety of reasons, but the reason why companies spend so much effort on launches, events, etc with the media is because audiences take more notice of what a journalist says than they do a paid-for ad. There are many other reasons which I’ll go into in an article.

· Can I control what is and what is not on the record?

If the interviewee asks the journalist to keep his/her comments off the record, and the journalist agrees, then the journalist should honour that promise. Of course, like in any business, there are unscrupulous journalists, but generally you can feel certain that if you want to make a private comment it’s not going to appear as headline in the next issue.

· Should I consider everything will be printed?

That’s a very good assumption and a useful guide to thinking about what to say, even though it will almost never occur. It’s like how the internet is one big magazine – only put online what you are happy for your mother to read.

· Can I request to see an article before it is printed?

You can ask, but a journo won’t show. If every interviewee was able to see the article beforehand, inevitably they would want to make changes, and then the difference between journalism and public relations disappears. The media’s promise to its audience is to give an independent assessment of the topic or person in question. However, in some cases you can ask to see your quotes, which are the parts of the interview the journalist intends to use. These can only be checked for accuracy; it is not an opportunity to censor your own comments.

· What tips would you give to deal with the media?

Well that is all we discussed so far as this was really a quick brain dump and of course I’d like to see an article about media in depth. Other questions I asked included…

Additionally publicity avenues · How do we get press releases picked up?

· What is of interest to you and not just self promoting drivel?

· What style format etc is a good thing? Or don’t you care because you will edit the copy?

and of course I look forward to reading those answers in CRN in the fullness of time, it has made me think more about leveraging one of my Clients who just happens to be a Small PR Firm, so maybe I have a little bartering to do with Anita soon.

One last thing in a follow up email Sholto asked me what my answers might be since “– as a blog writer, you are in the media too! “

Well I don’t really think of my self like that, I’m really just a Techo with a big mouth, big opinions, and a tendency to use a reference to the Tism song “5 Yards” directed at my self when I behave badly.

Here are the basic rules for me: all answers to my original questions…

• I post to the blog you print it ;-D OK really I’ll often ask if I say “fred nerk said “ If you don’t like a post let me know I’ll replace it with *** David had a 5 Yards Moment *** (not happened yet)
• Everything is NDA unless I got it elsewhere first. Again If you don’t like a post let me know I’ll replace it with *** David had a 5 Yards Moment ***
• Even if I’m wearing a shirt / button that says “I’m Blogging this” probably not I tend to remember the things that stick in my mind, and chances are you will have said crap can we keep this between us by then. BTW it is more likely that I’m in a “nobody reads my blog” TEE-Shirt if truth be known, my only loyal reader is the Google search spider.
• Nope but since you set your RSS reader to update Mackie.is-a-geek.net every 5 Minutes you could be the one and only hit If you don’t like a post let me know I’ll replace it with *** David had a 5 Yards Moment ***
• Again not the media just a guy with a blog that VERY FEW people read.

Mis-stepping with the media (Hopefully) Never Again

I’ve said some dumb things in my life and sometimes even to the media, so with some trepidation about saying things I might regret, I was chatting with Sholto Macpherson Editor of CRN Magazine at ExpoTech in Canberra. A day or so later I asked him for some advice about the media, I posed some questions and he graciously agreed to let me blog it. Here is the whole transcript of the media relations topic…

Good to talk with you on Wednesday, this can either be an idea for you to write or also happy to do it through my blog, but I think folk don’t really know how to deal with the media, at least I don’t. So how do we get the basics out there?

My questions would be…

· How do I control what gets printed?

The short answer is, you can’t. It’s the difference between PR, whom you pay to put out a message that you have control over, and the media, which reports the facts as accurately as it can. At least that’s the theory. People talk to the media for a variety of reasons, but the reason why companies spend so much effort on launches, events, etc with the media is because audiences take more notice of what a journalist says than they do a paid-for ad. There are many other reasons which I’ll go into in an article.

· Can I control what is and what is not on the record?

If the interviewee asks the journalist to keep his/her comments off the record, and the journalist agrees, then the journalist should honour that promise. Of course, like in any business, there are unscrupulous journalists, but generally you can feel certain that if you want to make a private comment it’s not going to appear as headline in the next issue.

· Should I consider everything will be printed?

That’s a very good assumption and a useful guide to thinking about what to say, even though it will almost never occur. It’s like how the internet is one big magazine – only put online what you are happy for your mother to read.

· Can I request to see an article before it is printed?

You can ask, but a journo won’t show. If every interviewee was able to see the article beforehand, inevitably they would want to make changes, and then the difference between journalism and public relations disappears. The media’s promise to its audience is to give an independent assessment of the topic or person in question. However, in some cases you can ask to see your quotes, which are the parts of the interview the journalist intends to use. These can only be checked for accuracy; it is not an opportunity to censor your own comments.

· What tips would you give to deal with the media?

Well that is all we discussed so far as this was really a quick brain dump and of course I’d like to see an article about media in depth. Other questions I asked included…

Additionally publicity avenues · How do we get press releases picked up?

· What is of interest to you and not just self promoting drivel?

· What style format etc is a good thing? Or don’t you care because you will edit the copy?

and of course I look forward to reading those answers in CRN in the fullness of time, it has made me think more about leveraging one of my Clients who just happens to be a Small PR Firm, so maybe I have a little bartering to do with Anita soon.

One last thing in a follow up email Sholto asked me what my answers might be since “– as a blog writer, you are in the media too! “

Well I don’t really think of my self like that, I’m really just a Techo with a big mouth, big opinions, and a tendency to use a reference to the Tism song “5 Yards” directed at my self when I behave badly.

Here are the basic rules for me: all answers to my original questions…

• I post to the blog you print it ;-D OK really I’ll often ask if I say “fred nerk said “ If you don’t like a post let me know I’ll replace it with *** David had a 5 Yards Moment *** (not happened yet)
• Everything is NDA unless I got it elsewhere first. Again If you don’t like a post let me know I’ll replace it with *** David had a 5 Yards Moment ***
• Even if I’m wearing a shirt / button that says “I’m Blogging this” probably not I tend to remember the things that stick in my mind, and chances are you will have said crap can we keep this between us by then. BTW it is more likely that I’m in a “nobody reads my blog” TEE-Shirt if truth be known, my only loyal reader is the Google search spider.
• Nope but since you set your RSS reader to update Mackie.is-a-geek.net every 5 Minutes you could be the one and only hit If you don’t like a post let me know I’ll replace it with *** David had a 5 Yards Moment ***
• Again not the media just a guy with a blog that VERY FEW people read.

Enough said

 

Strengthen my network of contacts....

Mitch has been blogging like a mad man this afternoon and in his list of goals I found this...

Strengthen my network of contacts within Australia and Overseas across technical, business and academic disciplines.

Now that just happens to fit with one of my goals this year so I want to set a deadline of the end of Jan 07 to setup a coffee with Mitch (not because I need a Powershell presenter for my User Group, but would be great if...) because I'm pretty sure I only know two Developers in Canberra very well, one does Cold Fusion stuff (but mostly teaches people to think better these days) and the other is Athena, so it is time to get out and meet some more.

I am also keen to develop more speakers so the coffee on me offer to all CBRWINUG members or other interested folk is still open, but we will be moving the open mic night to June07 see I do look at the surveys and am happy to react to what people want.

Lastly I really just want ideas for CBRWINUG events and organisational things so if you live in Canberra and want to help out with the planning process fill out the survey

Source: notgartner

Ahoy there you scurvy dogs

Thanks Frank for the reminder about Talk Like a Pirate Day I'll mix my previous career as a salty sea dog (9 years in the RAN, 7 years at Sea) so it will be a day of Goffas and Maccas, I might go to the Takeaway for the closest thing to SCRAN as I can muster.

BUT...

Best of all Catie (my 3yo Daughter) and I will take a break from singing the once more with feeling sound track on the way to day care and swap it for these too gems...

Best I get ready for my Jackstay transfer from the Study to the Bedroom. So we'll blow the man up, bullies, blow the man down, Way, hay, blow the man down. Wid a crew o'hard cases from Liverpool town. Gives us some time to blow the man down.

The Maid of Amsterdam

1. In Amsterdam there dwells a maid, Mark well what I do say;

In Amsterdam there dwells a maid, And she is mistress of her trade.

Her eyes are blue, her cheeks are red, Mark well what I do say;

Her eyes are blue, her cheeks are red, A wealth of hair is on her head.

Chorus:

A-roving, a-roving, Since roving's been my ruin,

I'll go no more a-roving With you, fair maid!

2. I put my arm around her waist, Mark well what I do say;

I put my arm around her waist, Says she, "Young man, you're in some haste."

I took that girl upon my knee, Mark well what I do say,

I took that girl upon my knee, Says she, "Young man, you're rather free."

Chorus:

3. She swore that she'd be true to me, Mark well what I do say,

She swore that she'd be true to me, But spent my money both fast and free.

I'll go no more a-roving With you, fair maid,

Since roving's been my ruin, I'll go no more

Chorus:

Donkey Riding

1. Were you ever in Quebec, stowing timber on the deck?

Where there's a king with a golden crown Riding on a donkey.

Chorus: Hey ho, away we go, donkey riding, donkey riding

Hey ho, away we go, riding on a donkey.

2. Were you ever off the Horn, where it's always nice & warm?

Seen the lion & the unicorn, Riding on a donkey. Chorus

3. Were you ever in Cardiff Bay, where the folks all shout hooray?

Here comes John with his 3 months pay, Riding on a donkey. Chorus

This plan is lunarcy - Security - Technology - smh.com.au

Now I thought my customers had big expectations for their offsite requirements. Check this out.

IF YOU think your organisation is savvy because it has an offsite data warehouse, spare a thought for William Burrows' plan to store life's blueprints - on the moon.

The journalism professor and former New York Times' space reporter's dream to back up the world's DNA to a site on the lunar surface would read like science fiction if it wasn't for the fact that the general idea is supported by the likes of Stephen Hawking, five Scandinavian prime ministers and a British group compiling a genetic database of endangered species.

Mr Burrows devised the disaster plan with Robert Shapiro, professor emeritus and senior research scientist in biochemistry at New York University, in the 1999 book A Lunar Sanctuary. From there, they formed the Alliance to Rescue Civilisation (http://arc-space.org), which has attracted scientists and thinkers.

So that would be quite some DR project, how do we keep the DR Site up to date? What are our RPO and RTO? I'm thinking the replication across the wide area might be a little behind during high rate of change situations. A job for DFSR perhaps?

Source: This plan is lunarcy - Security - Technology - smh.com.au

An incentive scheme for Synergistic? Could we borrow this idea from this weeks My Business Episode?

David Koch the finance dude and co-presenter of Sevens Sunrise programe has a weekend show called "My Business" while he can be a zoober head sometimes I quite like him generally. So I watch the show even though Mel and Nat are not there to moderate him.

This week there was a bit about Red Baron a scenic and aerobatic joy flight business. The one thing that really stayed with me was how to keep contractors with you when they could work for almost anyone. I wonder what we can do with local IT Pros to help grow the commercial business I just don't have time to work on or in.

Here is what Julia Bickerstaff came up with...

Joel is really happy with his team of pilots who are contracted and paid per flying hour as well as for briefings on the ground.  He believes they could easily work anywhere and doesn’t want to lose them as the success of the flying school depends upon them.  He also knows that if they’re happy they’ll help promote the school but as a new business owner he can’t afford to pay exorbitant salaries.  Our finance expert Julia Bickerstaff gave Joel some tips on incentivising employees.

Julia Bickerstaff: finance Top Gun

• Phantom share schemes work by giving a notional small percentage share of the business to each instructor.  At the end of a given period of time, each instructor will be paid as a cash bonus the difference between what those shares are worth at the start and the end of the period.
• To set up a phantom share scheme you need to work out the way you’re going to value the business and use this method at all stages of calculating incentives. 
• A share scheme like this can be used where traditional bonus methods are difficult to implement.  For example, sales staff will often have key performance indicators based on number and value of new sales.  What instructors do may not result directly in sales, so it may be better to have some employees on a performance-based incentive scheme and others on a phantom share scheme.

Source: Sept 3rd > My Business TV - Red Baron

An incentive scheme for Synergistic? Could we borrow this idea from this weeks My Business Episode?

David Koch the finance dude and co-presenter of Sevens Sunrise programe has a weekend show called "My Business" while he can be a zoober head sometimes I quite like him generally. So I watch the show even though Mel and Nat are not there to moderate him.

This week there was a bit about Red Baron a scenic and aerobatic joy flight business. The one thing that really stayed with me was how to keep contractors with you when they could work for almost anyone. I wonder what we can do with local IT Pros to help grow the commercial business I just don't have time to work on or in.

Here is what Julia Bickerstaff came up with...

Joel is really happy with his team of pilots who are contracted and paid per flying hour as well as for briefings on the ground.  He believes they could easily work anywhere and doesn’t want to lose them as the success of the flying school depends upon them.  He also knows that if they’re happy they’ll help promote the school but as a new business owner he can’t afford to pay exorbitant salaries.  Our finance expert Julia Bickerstaff gave Joel some tips on incentivising employees.

Julia Bickerstaff: finance Top Gun

• Phantom share schemes work by giving a notional small percentage share of the business to each instructor.  At the end of a given period of time, each instructor will be paid as a cash bonus the difference between what those shares are worth at the start and the end of the period.
• To set up a phantom share scheme you need to work out the way you’re going to value the business and use this method at all stages of calculating incentives. 
• A share scheme like this can be used where traditional bonus methods are difficult to implement.  For example, sales staff will often have key performance indicators based on number and value of new sales.  What instructors do may not result directly in sales, so it may be better to have some employees on a performance-based incentive scheme and others on a phantom share scheme.

Source: Sept 3rd > My Business TV - Red Baron

Pay It Forward Foundation

So I was channel surfing tonight and found the end of a movie that had Helen Hunt and that kid from the Sixth Sense and AI (I really like Helen Hunt, in a different way to Meg Ryan but I digress) any way it is called "Pay it forward" is this what we are trying to do with the User Groups we run, where else can I apply this principle?

The Pay it forward foundation may be worth a look here is what it is about now I've only just seen it so expect to hear more from me on this.

Reuben St. Clair, the teacher and protagonist in the book “Pay It Forward,” starts a movement with this voluntary, extra-credit assignment: THINK OF AN IDEA FOR WORLD CHANGE, AND PUT IT INTO ACTION. Trevor, the 12-year-old hero of “Pay It Forward,” thinks of quite an idea. He describes it to his mother and teacher this way: "You see, I do something real good for three people. And then when they ask how they can pay it back, I say they have to Pay It Forward. To three more people. Each. So nine people get helped. Then those people have to do twenty-seven." He turned on the calculator, punched in a few numbers. "Then it sort of spreads out, see. To eighty-one. Then two hundred forty-three. Then seven hundred twenty-nine. Then two thousand, one hundred eighty-seven. See how big it gets?"