Today is world AIDS day, so I’m joining other bloggers around the world, uniting in an attempt to harness the power of the blogosphere to make the world a better place and raise awareness.

For me, mothers and children affected by AIDS breaks my heart, so I’m sharing a couple of things online that I find particularly moving and even inspiring. . .

mothers2mothers is a program across Africa, designed to help HIV-positive pregnant women care for themselves and avoid transmission of the virus to their babies. They are counseled by “Mentor Mothers” who have already benefited from m2m. . .

  This YouTube video insert
  was produced by

  Johnson & Johnson.
  Learn more at their website
  Johnson & Johnson’s Connect.

The World Vision Experience: AIDS takes you on an unforgettable, audio-guided experience into the lives of children living in an AIDS-affected communities in Africa.

• Experience Olivia’s Story - Malawi, in southeast Africa
• Experience Stephen’s Story - northern Uganda

Please Note:
These stories are not for the faint of heart and not for children to watch without you.

Bookmark or Share

More »

If I wasn’t already too busy, I would SO apply for this job. Though they warn you right up front that working for IGN is hardly a cakewalk, the duties sound right up my alley. And, it’s a total telecommuting job - no need to relocate but you do have to be really self-motivated. If you’re not sure telecommuting is for you or not, this is NOT the job to test the waters.

Here are the basic requirements they mention:

• Must be 18 years of age or older
  
• Outstanding writing skills
  
• At least two years writing experience at a Website or journalistic publication
  
• Excellent verbal and social skills
  
• Extensive knowledge of the gaming industry, including specific games, publishers and developers
• Love and acceptance of all videogame systems
  
• Quality-oriented
  
• Winning attitude

And here’s what you’d be doing:

Freelancer will be responsible for posting news releases that come over the wire on all applicable IGN channels. Daily routine will include scouring the Internet for the latest press releases, maddeningly hitting the “refresh” button on your email application and getting up each and every press release as soon as it hits the airwaves.

If you’re into gaming, love the Internet, don’t mind posting screenshots and writing about games and the gaming industry, and are willing to work hard - this freelance position is for YOU.

To apply, visit the IGN job posting page and follow their directions. You’ll need to submit a brief cover letter (less than 200 words) and your resume, so make sure it’s polished and up-to-date!

About IGN:
“IGN Entertainment, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, Inc., is a leading Internet media and services provider focused on the videogame and entertainment enthusiast markets. IGN’s properties collectively attract more than 31 million unique monthly users worldwide. Our network of videogame-related properties (IGN.com, GameSpy, FilePlanet, TeamXbox, 3D Gamers, Direct2Drive and others) is the web’s number one videogame information destination and attracts one of the largest concentrated audiences of young males on the Internet. We also own and operate the popular movie-related website, Rotten Tomatoes, and one of the leading male lifestyle websites, AskMen.com.”

Bookmark or Share

More »

Many people say that there is nothing like a face to face meeting to get things accomplished. But is that really true? With today’s internet and collaboration technologies corporations should be less concerned with its professional staff’s physical location and take a hard look at their manager’s management skills for remote workers. It is expensive and competitively limiting to only consider talent within a commuting distance when superior talent at a lower cost may be available in the next town or across the world. Is your management team ready?

Internet collaboration is a destructive technology kept in check by legacy management practices. Keep the water cooler and coffee service because the need for professionals to be in the same office from 8am till 6pm in order to be productive, collaborate and share ideas is mandated by your management. The baby boomers that are still senior managers in charge can not let go of the norm of being in the office. If you are not in the office, how do they know you are working? This visual management style, “are you present productivity metric”, is out dated and very costly. Why is it alright to telecommute from Russia or India but not from 150 miles down the road?

The business world in the U.S. is still run by mostly 19th century style managers. The first measurement of an employee’s contribution is getting to the office each day on time. The second is how well they get along with co-workers when they get there. The metric for tangible productivity is too often subjective and harder to quantify. Colleges have discovered that they can teach courses globally to student that they never see. The online gaming industry makes billions of dollars managing global poker games. Open Source developers collaborate globally on coding applications and operating systems. Why can’t a project team leader conduct a meeting or a manager review an employee’s deliverable remotely? In today’s world there is no reason for most technical professionals to see each other or their client in order to work together, provided they have the right technology. Low cost virtual private network technology (VPN) provides remote access to corporate network resources and data. Where your staff sits will not affect the out come of your effort as much as the management skills directing them.

A poorly managed team or meeting is just that. It is much easier to host a face to face meeting without an agenda or proper planning. All meetings should have an agenda and objectives. If done correctly meetings are of minimum length, minutes are recorded, and objectives and tasks are assigned. How many face to face meetings have you been to that don’t have these? If remote meetings do, the outcome is just as efficient as face to face meetings. There is also the personality variable in a traditional face to face meeting. A shy person may be timid about making suggestions and an extravert may dominate meetings. Does the less dominant person have less to contribute? A good facilitator wants all members of the team to contribute ideas freely and equally.

These are the skills needed to be a good project team manager for onsite or virtual teams.

1. Meeting facilitation skills
2. Meeting planning and documentation skills
3. Project planning skills
4. Excellent interpersonal skills
5. Team building skills
6. Documentation skills
7. Knowledgeable regarding functional area
8. Internet collaboration tools skills

Having a telecommuting professional workforce is more dependent on the skills and disciplines of your managers than those if your staff. Having large or small groups of people in a corporate department come to a central work location everyday and remain there for an 8 hour workday is a legacy concept that only time and brave managers can change. It is a lot easier to look at how many hours a person spends at work than it is at how productive they are. With a remote work force the manager/leader has the challenge of building relationships, establishing clear expectations, and providing clear feedback. How many managers can do two of these three with a resident staff? The companies that thrive in this new age of telecommuting will hire a management team that can bond together a global matrix of the best minds and master new types of non-verbal communications skills to motivate, reward and lead work groups.

About the Author…
Mr. Johns is President of Vision TRE, Inc. ( on the web at http://www.visiontre.com ), a Georgia based software development company with offshore facilities in Brazil. He has held senior level positions managing global projects for the U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service, MCI Telecommunications, and EMS Technologies.

Bookmark or Share

More »

So far for me it’s not been much of an issue because my husband’s job provides us with family insurance, even if our costs do continue to spike. One year everything doubled from our copay to our prescription coverage. But I can’t imagine having to get medical attention, dental care, and vision care without us having that coverage. As a 1099-er, I’m not provided group coverage and neither are thousands of others who work at home whether they’re self-employed or employed by one of the many small, privately-owned businesses that struggle to keep the United States economy afloat.

While working outside of the cubicle does have a lot of benefits, insurance coverage is not usually one of them. As if working without the safety net of surrounding employee knowledge is not a scary enough proposition, consider attempting to navigate the world of individual health care insurance on your own. You ARE your human resources department and if you simply have no access to a company provided insurance plan, you must choose to live dangerously on the edge and take your chances or start looking. Unfortunately, the simple act of locating and researching available policies can take a huge effort and expansive knowledge. Fortunately, there are companies who make comparison shopping of individual health insurance available.

Health Benefits Direct is one such company, as is GoHealth Insurance and eHealth Insurance. If you’re not currently covered, those are definitely great places to start comparing health insurance information and policies.

The offerings from the 3 companies noted above are varied to the point of having something for nearly everyone’s needs, from health insurance for an individual or a family to term life insurance. Maybe a dental plan is what you need, check, it’s here. How about a health savings account for those who want a tax advantage to saving for medical expenses while maintaining a high deductible plan? Check, it’s here. Short term insurance, a vision discount plan, student health insurance? Check, they are all here. What if you need to travel abroad and need health insurance to cover you? Check,… you get the idea…

How these companies offers such a variety becomes evident when you take a minute to look at the carriers each company markets. At Health Benefits Direct, several big names, such as Aetna, Assurant Health, Humana, Pacific Care, and United Healthcare, are among the participants in the health insurance category. AIG and Colorado Bankers Life are companies whose plans are marketed in the term life section. Health Plan Administrators offers dental insurance, while HTH Worldwide offers travel health insurance. With such a varied marketing effort, you should be able to get which ever insurance your particular circumstance demands… and good news, it’s easy to apply.

Every one of those sites provides an easy to use “Free Quote” comparison shopping tool. Simply enter your zip code and you are well into the first step. After completing the form and submitting it, help is available either on-line or via the telephone in comparing the possible policies. A note of caution here though: Make sure that you are comparing apples to apples and not apples to oranges among policies. Be aware that each state is different in what it terms a mandated (covered) condition vs. a non-mandated condition. Another striking difference is among providers who are mandated (covered) and non-mandated. For instance, did you that Connecticut mandates Prostate Cancer Screening, but Ovarian Cancer Screening is a non-mandated condition? Or how about from the same source that Dentists are mandated providers in Connecticut, but Oral Surgeons are non-mandated?¹

Just remember as you navigate the sites and receive quotes that help is available online or via phone, generally from licensed insurance agents, while you’re researching and comparing quotes.

Whatever circumstances have brought you to your search for individual, family, or small business health insurance coverage, take a deep breathe to keep your blood pressure as low as possible and look into comparing available coverages from sites like those I’ve noted here. Maybe after your new insurance card is safely tucked away in your wallet, waiting patiently for your next trip to your doctor’s office, the simple word insurance won’t cause a spike in your blood pressure!

• Health Benefits Direct - Shop, compare, and apply for affordable health insurance, online or by phone, from multiple highly-rated insurance carriers with one call all from the comfort of your own home or office. Get health insurance quotes based on your particular needs.
• GoHealth Insurance - A direct approach to health and wellness, provides an online resource for comparing health insurance options online. You’ll also find educational tools to help you understand the world of healthcare.
• EHealth Insurance - Founded in 1997, its technology was responsible for the nation’s first Internet-based sale of a health insurance policy. Side by side comparisons of individual, family, or small business health insurance and the best medical insurance plans for your needs and budget.

¹A copy of the 2008 edition of “Health Insurance Mandates in the States” is available on CAHI’s website, http://www.cahi.org. Also available on the web site are corresponding documents: “Trends in State Mandated Benefits” and “Mandated Benefit Definition Memo.”

Bookmark or Share

More »

The job posting that caught my eye is actually a job opening at Ars Technica. Here’s what they say about the job and the qualifications they’re looking for in a candidate:

You’ll be working for Ars Technica as a Fulltime Copy Editor and Web Producer.
You’ll be working at their Chicago, IL location.

Ars Technica is hiring! We’re looking for a 40 hr/week copy editor/producer with a passion for technology and an eye for detail. The ideal candidate will have a solid grasp of spelling, grammar, and style and be comfortable coordinating a small copyediting team. Previous copyediting experience is strongly preferred.

Candidates should also have a grasp of basic HTML tags and be capable of basic production work—preparing and posting articles, formatting text for the web, resizing, uploading, and inserting pictures, etc. (We can provide training for production work.)

We need a self-starter who requires minimal oversight to produce excellent results, someone with the ability to work in a fast-paced environment.

This is a telecommuting position, though we need someone in the greater Chicago area. Candidates who live outside Chicago will be considered, but (at minimum) quarterly travel to Chicago would be likely be required. All other things being equal, we will choose someone local.

There’s a bit more info and a contact for you at the Ars Technica Job listing!

More About Ars Technica
The name is derived from the Latin for “art of technology” and they specialize in “original news and reviews, analysis of technology trends, and expert advice on topics ranging from the most fundamental aspects of technology to the many ways technology is helping us enjoy our world. We work for the reader who not only needs to keep up on technology, but is passionate about it.”

Bookmark or Share

More »