How am I doing online?

A friend shared a post by this guy (who I don't know).  The post suggested in order to get started with an online presence you need certain accounts and services...

I thought I'd give myself a check up and make sure you knew how to connect with me:

• Twitter - www.twitter.com/deanlisenby
• Blogger account. - www.deanlisenby.com
• Facebook profile -  I have an account and I'm fairly active... can't seem to find the link.... oh well.. ask to be my friend!
• MySpace Account  www.myspace.com/dlisenby
• YouTube account - www.youtube.com/deanlisenby although I have not uploaded any videos.
• Gmail account - email me at deanlisenby [at] gmail dot com (put it together so the spammers won't harass me!
• LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/deanlisenby

Just curious... what other accounts/services do you rely on?

Turn your TV off week..

We don't watch that much TV but how'd I miss National Turn off your TV Week?

... oh well.

How do I make decisions when pressed?

 

At ACS, I find myself making some tough calls when hardware is failing, software isn't doing what it should, and people haven't always done a complete check of the facts.   I get called in sometimes to solve the tough calls.   I've come to realize that I can solve technical problems.  I have a great team of people that let me think out loud.  Our ability to do that boils down to the facts. 

Phil Gerbyshak says: 

There are lots of ways you can make great decisions. :

• Interpret the Information
• Know your options
• Know your negotiables and non-negotiables

 

 

Phil goes on to say that Steve Bannister does a great job sharing his 4 tips to interpret information:

• Rumor
• Belief
• Opinion
• Fact

I'm here to tell you that when you're solving problems related to computers there's only one choice and that's FACT.  Rumors are just that...rumors.

Beliefs are theories and should be tested.  Once tested, they deliver facts.  Opinions are UNWELCOMED in troubleshooting unless they lead to theories, which can be tested and then made factual....

In 100% of my career, when we focus on the facts, we succeed. 

PS:  This does not hold true when dealing with people.  At that point, the facts are generally useless and rumors, opinions and beliefs are all that matter.

It's time to innovate!

My team hates when I go on vacation of take off for the holidays. That means I actually have time to think. For the last 6 days I have been able to disconnect from the office (thanks to the team!), disconnect from business on the side (thanks to great partners) and disconnect from extended family. I took the immediate family on a trip to Asheville, NC to enjoy some family time. We toured the Biltmore, went shopping (ugh!), found a couple of geocaches, ate some ice-cream, watch The Biggest Loser finale, discovered what AAA is all about, swam in the indoor pool at the hotel, watched the filming of an HGTV commercial, and went to Build-A-Bear for yet 2 more stuffed animals that I'll end up selling at the Yard Sale for $1 each(if I'm lucky)!

But during all that I had time to think. And here's the epiphany of this trip.

It's time to Innovate! What is that you ask? Look it up!

Scott Berkun says this:
Not sure how to start? It’s with more questions. Useful questions for innovators include:

* Why is it done this way?
* Who started it and why?
* What alternatives did they consider, and what idea did their new idea replace?
* What are my, or my friend’s, biggest complaints with how we do this thing, and what changes might make it better?
* How is this done in other towns, countries, cultures, or eras of time?
* What different assumptions did they make or constraints did they have?
* How can I apply any of the above to what I do?

Many great innovators asked better questions than everyone else, and that’s part of why they were successful. It wasn’t genius, whatever that means, special top-secret brain exercises they did every morning, or even how much money they had. It was through the dedicated pursuit of answers to simple questions that they found ideas already in the world that might be of use.

So, Team... I'm glad you missed me. I can only hope we have time to innovate!

A new gadget...

I've had the Samsung Blackjack for about a year and a half now and really liked it.  However, one of our users lost his phone this week and the telecom team offered to give me the new one and let me hand mine down to the victim of the lost phone... I obliged their sucking up... :-)  Thanks Dustin.

Anyway,  I now have the Blackjack II.  The new and improved.  Sorry all you iPhone fanatics, I'm still sticking with the Windows Mobile side of life.

The switch was pretty clean.  We changed the SIM Card out, plugged in my corporate username and password and the sync process began.  All is good.

Well not quite.  The problem is simply this;  it will take me a week to figure out all the bells, dings, and noises that are coming out of this phone.  In the old days I could sit down and figure this thing out in one night.  Now I have to figure it out as I go.... 

 

So... if I ding or chime or beep during a meeting, call, or church in the next week.... I'm sorry!

Do you use your friends like an ATM?

 

Think about an ATM machine. Did you remember an ATM machine today? Unless you wanted cash, you probably did not think of an ATM machine. That’s not a problem. In fact, it would be scary if you were thinking about an ATM machine when you didn’t NEED cash. This is also fine because you don’t expect the ATM machine to be thinking about you anytime - day or night <smile>

Well, friends are different. They are not like ATM machines who are there to just serve you whenever you NEED them. Unfortunately, in real life, many people think about their friends like ATM machines.

 

The above text was taken from a blog I just picked up.  You may want to consider it also....

A challenge to the Ebenezer Baptist Church Family....

Today, a challenge was thrown out to our church family.  I thought it was worthy of sharing here in case you didn't hear!   Our Government is sending out Tax Stimulus checks in the near future.  When and how much we don't know but look for your letter in the mail soon telling you that you're getting it.   (By the way it cost our country 41.8 million dollars to send a letter to everyone telling them that the check is in the mail!)  I'm going to guess that once they start arriving that they will be on average around $1200 for the "average family".   For a good "cheat sheet", go here!

So, EBC has around 450 family giving units.  If EVERYONE (and I am still going to hold out that 100% participation could actually happen!) gave their check to the Building Project, we could have on hand immediately over half a million dollars.  Actually it would be around $540,000.

Remember, the total project cost for Phase I is 5.6 million.  We would almost have 10% in hand before we ever started.

I challenge you to take this money, that you weren't expecting anyway, and give it to the cause of the future of God's Kingdom.

 

For those of you NOT in the Ebenezer Family, either JOIN today or find a cause that you can give to also. 

What to Blog about?

My friend, Jason Lee, states here that he is still struggling to discern what is "blogworthy".

I too, admittedly, have struggled with ( and continue to struggle with) that and here's why:

1. A fair number of people who read this are lurkers from the Church Management Industry hoping that I'll spill some insider secret.
2. I have friends reading this that really care about my me more than my job. They want to hear about life, the kids, the stories I tell that really have happened to me.
3. My church family reads some also and they want to hear something completely different, maybe even encouraging or spiritual.
4. Others, like Linda, have made it clear she doesn't want to hear about Solar stuff any more... Sorry Linda! :-)
5. Then, there's the occasional just cause I want to post it sort of post.... like this one. It doesn't mean anything to anyone I just wanted to put it out there..


So, Jason, I understand your struggle. However, post what you feel is worthy to post and be happy.... that's what I try to do! It sometimes make no sense but that's ok!

an amazing house.

another view today.

Biltmore Fun Facts

Facts about the Biltmore House
It took six years to build.
There were over 1,000 men used in construction.
It opened its doors on Christmas Eve in 1895.
It has a 390-foot facade.
There are more than 11 million bricks.
It has 250 rooms, 65 fireplaces, 43 bathrooms, 34 bedrooms, and three kitchens.
A massive stone spiral staircase has 102 steps.
In the center of the house, suspended by a single bolt is an iron chandelier containing 72 electric light bulbs.
The Banquet Hall is 74 feet by 42 feet (bigger than my house!).
The dinner table could seat as many as 64 guests.
The meals served there were usually 8 courses and required 15 utensils per person to eat.

Be forewarned.....lots of posts coming

Tomorrow and Thursday, I am on vacation with my family in Asheville, NC. I do intend to post my "trip" via my mobile phone. Expect to see lots of interesting little shots over the next 38 hours as I attempt to disconnect from work and life in general and enjoy my family. However, the inner-geek will continue to post on blogger! :-)

a geocaching ad...

sitting here @ lunch @ red robin in columbia I noticed an ad about geocaching. first ad I have seen about geocaching in print. sent from my phone.

from phone.

hey.

This sums up our country!

As I sit here eating my late night popcorn working on my 19" LCDs... :-)

burial?

When you die, do you want to be:

1. Buried?
2. Cremated?
3. Resomated?


That last one is technologically intriguing. I had a funeral home director tell me once that he's spent his entire life trying to keep from going to Hell, that he sure wasn't going to burn on the way out. :-)

He now has another option.

Check this out....

It takes guts... and faith... do you have it?

Do you make people defensive when you send email?

I've seen this many times. I was reading my favorite "email etiquette" blog tonight. here's what they had to say:


What many e-mailers do not realize is how easy it is to come off as blunt, terse or demanding. Even with your every day e-mails, it is so very important to ensure that you present yourself with clarity and courtesy.

A simple greeting at the beginning of every e-mail will help you to accomplish this. Just add a Hello, (name) or Hi, (name) and your e-mail will be taken in a completely different light. If you think about it, you don’t just pick up the phone and start talking without doing the same. I know phone and e-mail are different communication venues, but why should e-mail disregard common courtesy in light of being “informal” (informal is many times code for lazy)?

When you start an e-mail with a question or demand, without that greeting softening or framing your request, your e-mail can be perceived as bossy, demanding or easily misunderstood. Have a comment that states a point of view or opinion and without that oh-so-important greeting; you can come off as terse.

Every e-mail you send, should always begin with a proper greeting fitting of the tone you want to relay and formality that is required based on your relationship with the person you are e-mailing. By not making this extra effort, the negative impact of your requests or comments could cause those you communicate with to cringe when they see your name in their inbox.

And wouldn’t that be a shame when you can avoid such a reaction by just including a nice greeting?

If you don't include a greeting at the beginning of emails, please start!

what is wrong with this picture?