| | Win/Win/Win 2012 - The South Windsor Rotary club auction for 2012 is underway. I am a proud member of this club.
We host the auction every two years and the proceeds fund a lengthy list of good causes in South Windsor and surrounding areas. Scholarships, pu...
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| | Beef up your resume with a professional certification - Here is a transcript of an interview on the value of a professional certification to beef up your resume.
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Have you earned an certificate and if so, how has it helped your career?
Yes. Two certifications that have helped my career treme...
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| | The future of adult education for working professionals - I have written about my journey into the hobby of homebrewing. I learned most of what I know from online forums, youtube videos and supplemented my knowledge with published books. I contend that the way of part-time, brick-and-mortar adult ...
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| | The good things in life - This past week, between Christmas 2011 and New Year, was very relaxing for me. I had time to reflect on the past, dream about the future and sleep late in the present.
Although it is cold and dark most of the time here in Connecticut, my ...
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| | Thoughts on the new year - As I enjoy the New Year long weekend, reflecting on the activities of the past year and decade, my mind considers what can be achieved in the coming years.
We overestimate what we can accomplish in the coming year, but severely underestima...
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| | Now why would I want to do that? - 1. I was just offered a radio interview that requires me to pay for. Now why would I want to waste good money for an interview on Talk Radio? When last did a project leader tell me "Wayne, I did not hear your radio interview, and I am devas...
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| | Leveraging Social Media for young professionals - In a competitive job market, how can you use social media to distinguish yourself? Comprising photos of the Spring break in Fort Lauderdale on your Facebook will make you stand out, but not to your benefit when the hiring manager views them...
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| | South African Expats living in Connecticut - The holiday season is upon us. A long weekend awaits, and it is special because this is the Christmas of 2011. As South African expatriates, (and US citizens), living in Connecticut, it is an interesting time. I have had these conversations...
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| | The Mechanics and the secret. - As I observe and work with developing project managers, I notice that although the mechanics of project leadership are relatively easy to learn, there is a secret sauce that distinguishes the achievers from the rest of the pack.
It might s...
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| | Wayne's World - 12/19/2011 - In case you were wondering what's going on in Wayne's world on Dec 19,2011.
1. The snow storms in the winter of 2011 was unlike prior years. It was heavy and many buildings collapsed under the weight, including a firehouse in Meriden, CT,...
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| | The dumbest things you will ever hear.. - These are some of the dumbest things you will ever year (courtesy of special ed departments and HR)
1. "I have a cure for ADD".
2. "All children born in July are slow. My grandson is born in July is slow and so are all other children born ...
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| | The smartest guy isn't at the front of the room - When you attend a conference or learning event, you assume that the guy at the front of the room is the smartest guy. After all, he is billed as "The expert". You paid good money and traveled here to hear what he has to say.
I was enlight...
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| | Wayne's world - November 2011 - Well, what a crazy start to the month. In case you were wondering what is happening in Wayne's World, here is a rare view into my world.
1. Winter Storm Alfred took out our power and heat for seven days. Wayne's world went back 100 years a...
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| | How to run a "lessons learned" exercise - After Winter Storm Alfred, many institutions are conducting "lessons learned" exercises. Police Departments, businesses, utility companies and households are asking "What could we have done better, if anything?" We do "lessons learned" all ...
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| | Winter Storm Alfred - Looking back, one week later - Last Sunday, we awoke to a winter wonderland. Gorgeous views of snow-covered trees. Typical of February in New England. However, it was the aftermath of the historic 2011 October storm - Alfred. I could see that it was like no other storm w...
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| | Latest position paper, to help organizers of professional association workshops - Project managers work with people to complete projects. However, project managers are usually not formally trained in human relationships. Many project managers come into the profession based on superb technical skills and excellent technic...
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| | Life lessons from the First Prize winner - I recently won the first place blue ribbon in the 2011 Southern New England Regional Homebrew Competition.
I did not set out to create an award winning beer, and the journey I travelled over the past year is a repeatable model that you sh...
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| | The secret for success: Whatever gets you through the night. - When my son was very small, (he was born prematurely) and sick, my wife and I read everything we could lay our hands on about neonatal psychology to educated oursevelves and do the best we could.
We discovered:
1. Most books and advice (at...
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| | 2011 Foliage Enjoyment Trip - Every year we travel up North to enjoy the foliage. It is a road trip that we all enjoy. We take Freddie with us because he travels well in the car and then we don't have to worry about him for the whole day while we are travelling.
Yester...
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| | Speak! - Freddie (our cockerpoo) has been trained to "Speak!". He barks in response to a hand gesture and is rewarded with a treat.
When you are in charge of hiring speakers for your Rotary club, PMI Chapter meeting or Professional Development Day ...
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| | The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. - Recently, I was part of a WhirlyBall team. (Unfortunately the other team won the games - we believe one of the team members is an undercover profesisonal player.)
We played four games in one evening. Here is more or less the progression.
...
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| | PMI Westchester Presentation - Sept 2011 - Great audience of enthusiastic professionals at PMI Westchester last week as we discussed the results of my work that lead to writing "Beyond the Certification".
Everyone is intrigued to find out "What does it take to be a project manager...
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| | How to find out what you don't know - the art of exploration - When you accept the responsibility to lead a project, program or major workstream, then your early steps include finding out what you don't know. You can't determine the scope of work or plan for it, if you don't know who your stakeholders ...
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| | Watch you language!! - How often have you been told to "Watch your langugage!!" (usually suffixed with "young man") and accompanied by "the look" from a scolding parent.
Now is a good time to review your language, because your language influences relationships a...
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| | Relationship Unawareness - Study after study shows that a critical factor in successful projects is the ability of the project leader to build and maintain professional relationships.
Easier said than done. How exactly do you proactively build and maintain profesis...
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| | Who needs customers anyway? Not iParty. - It is impossible to understand the stupidity of some retailers.
I am leading the water-sports event for our upcoming church picnic. I need to purchase water balloons for the balloon-toss competition.
I went to my local iParty, just afte...
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| | Hear Ye. Hear Ye! - As project managers, we need to listen. We all have filters and our tendency is to hear what we think we should hear based on our frame of reference.
However, a good project manager listens, especially when someone tells you something tha...
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| | What lessons have you learned over this summer? - Botha Basement Brewery status - 8/27/2011.
Thanks to Rich at Brew and Wine Hobby shop, Northern Brewer and the kind wisdom of brewing friends, my hobby has been productive over the hot summer with two saisons in the bottle, one saison(ish...
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| | Are your metrics moving you forward, or holding you back? - Here is my latest article on the total cost of metrics: ...
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| | Wayne's Week - In case you were wondering, here are highlights from the past few weeks.
1. Freddie (our cockerpoo and little bundle of joy) went in for scheduled dental surgery. The vet called before the surgery to confirm that he was about to be neutere...
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| | Contemplations from Botha Basement Brewery - Time: 14:30
Date: June 18,2011
Place: Botha Basement Brewery / Home Office
Setting: Enjoying a few of my superior and exclusive hand crafted Ales that have conditioned to perfection.
Weather: Perfect. Sun is shining and the gazillion feet o...
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| | Credibility and lessons learned from surviving cancer - You earn credibility when you are a cancer survivor. How are you passing on the lessons that you have learned, to help other people? When you have "Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt", and you tell someone else about the journey, then y...
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| | The Cancer Profile Two-Step - I am speaking at the Relay for Life event in South Windsor later today. Come on down if you are in the area, and contribute in some way.
I am sharing this, because the cancer profile two-step is so predictable, I always enjoy it when I see...
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| | Relationship Awareness what? - Last week I went to New York City (NYC) and trained, and am now a bona-fide SDI facilitator. So what? If you look at my webpage with certificates, you may think that I collect training certificates for a hobby. (On a tangent that we won't e...
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| | Letting go is so hard - dumping stuff - You have to dump things that are holding you back. You have to learn to let go, which can be very hard to do.
Last weekend, I threw out a computer desk. It was in my way and we have accumuated so much furniture that I find myself walking ...
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| | What is there to celebrate about cancer? - If you were to tell a loved one, or someone newly diagnosed with cancer that there are things to celebrate about cancer, what would it be?
As a cancer survivor, still undergoing infrequent treatment, I have been selected to speak at the o...
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| | Can you hear me now? - We communicate, all the time. As project managers, it is said that over 90% of our work is communication. However, much of what we think we are communicating, is not communicated at all.
How many times have you got the wrong impression fro...
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| | Project Management Day in the State of Connecticut - SNEC-PMI is Making Southern New England Better through Project Management. One of the ways we are doing this, is by making more people aware of the value that the profession brings to business, non-profit organizations and anyone who manage...
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| | Workshop: Organizational Politics for People Who Hate Politics - I attended this 1/2 day workshop by Rick Brenner this afternoon, prior to our annual full-day 2011 SNEC-PMI conference that takes tomorrow.
The title is: Organizational Politics for People Who Hate Politics and here are some take-aways fr...
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| | BIAB - The first experiment - My hobby (creating outstanding hand-crafted beers) has many parallels to managing projects and is helping to crystallize my advice for life success for a future book.
Last week, I did my first Brew In A Bag (BIAB). I am very disappointed w...
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| | Was it as good for you as it was for me? - In the same evening this week, two presenters delivered their messages to the same audience. I had the privilege of being in the audience.
Presenter #1 had zero technology. No PowerPoint slides, no handouts. Just her amazing energy and ent...
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| | April 2011 campout - We had a great weekend campout this past weekend, with the Boy Scouts. Weather was good during the day and the overnight rain was a good experience for the scouts. Now, they know how to select a site and pitch a tent to stay dry when it rai...
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| | Positive Energy gives off Negative Vibes - Two fellows just rang the doorbell. My lovely wife answered the door, and one opened the screen door to enter the house (uninvited). My wife told them to close the door so that our bundle of joy (Freddie the cockerpoo) would stay inside.
...
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| | What's in your library? - What are you reading today, to increase your expertise and value tomorrow? I just finished reading Million Dollar Consulting (4th edition) yesterday, by Alan Weiss, and am currently reading the following:
1. Million Dollar Speaking (Alan W...
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| | Communication - We held a very successful event at Westchester PMI Professional Development Day this past weekend. I presented on the topic of communication.
As often happens, the presenters learns as much, or more, than the audience. When a few people ...
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| | What is in your future? - Holding my crystal ball up to the light in the first days of Spring, I see the following:
1. A week from today will be a fantastic event at the Westchester chapter of PMI. Thanks to outstanding efforts from dedicated volunteers, the 2011 P...
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| | What's Wayne been up to? - I have been sick for the past two weeks. Therefore, had no energy to blog, brew exotic new hand crafted ales, or write facebook notes. However, I did come across interesting food for thought. This sure beats anything you will find on daytim...
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| | Ice fishing - I went ice fishing yesterday, with great guys, in New Hampshire. It was the first time in my life that I took part in this hobby, first hand. Good experience and I have the photos to prove it.
How many fish did we come back with? Let's see...
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| | How to successfully transition executive project sponsorship - There will be turnover on any substantial IT project. Project team members come and go, subject matter experts move to new roles in the organization and as the executive project sponsor your focus is to keep a watchful eye on the final resu...
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| | Show me the plan - After leading and being part of more projects that you can remember, you develop a sixth sense for the health of a project. You get the sinking feeling in your gut when you observe certain behaviors and situations on the project.
For examp...
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| | Wayne's Wisdom, courtesy of Botha Basement Brewery - I am enjoying a hand crafted beer (ok - the 2nd one for this evening thus far), and pondering the events of this past week. As my Oupa often said "Life is a great game."
This past week:
1. I heard that a dear friend is getting divorced af...
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| | Rules of the Road for 2011 - I drove up to the drive-thru ATM, to deposit a check and withdraw cash. What do I find in front of me? A person who drove up, against the flow of traffic, which then put him on the wrong side of the ATM. No problem, he gets out of his truck...
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| | Wishing you a Happy and prosperous 2011 - January 1, 2011 - I hope you have a happy and prosperous year ahead of you. If you are like me, you will face challenges and opportunities in the new year, just like in years past. Loved ones will encounter health issues, inflation will mak...
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| | The scouting experience - I attended scout leader training this past weekend. We learned various components to be good scout masters that allow us to deliver on the promise of scouting for our scout troops. I have been involved in Boy Scouts of America for the past ...
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| | Masters Degrees in Project Management in USA - I am posting this here, for convenience to my readers. I have no financial interest in it. Andrea McDougal compiled an unbiased and updated list of every school that offers a master's degree in project management in the US. I trust that it...
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| | Improving your career options in 2011 - As we approach winter and the holiday season in the USA, now is the time to reflect on the past year and plan for 2011. There is no time like the present and the perceptual "down time" for the next few weeks is perfect for this annual ritua...
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| | Tips to balance project management work and family commitments - As a project manager, it can feel like you are the only person on the project who takes on additional responsibility to see the project through tough challenges. In other words, exemplifying "The buck stops here" mentality and putting in wh...
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| | Wednesday Humor - Humor to lighten up your day.
1. If you share a printer in the office, then you know that many people print out stuff and then just leave it on or around the printer. Today, like other days, I retrieved my printed documents off the shared...
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| | Generally, we are on track. Really? - Project managers deal in specifics, not generalisms. For example "Task #47 - Develop the module to interface with system ABC by next Wednesday" is clear and measurable.
My gut tells me that a project is probably in trouble when I hear gen...
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| | Why? - You have to ask yourself "Why?" when you find that some things just don't make sense. Do you also ponder on questions like these?
1. I recently acquired a top of the line, used exercise bicycle for an unbelievably low price. It is in great...
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| | Biking merit badge - 25 miles yesterday - Did 25 miles on the vintage Firenze GL5000 yesterday. 15 speeds are not enough up some hills. However, it is so sweet to fly downhill in top gear with warm muscles pumping, cruising past the slow lane. ...
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| | We want to change, but not to change too much - Thoughtful and truthful sermon at Wapping Community Church. We all want the benefits of change. We want:
1. Eat better.
2. Budget better with our money.
3. Yell less at the children.
4. Be better people
Going further for my audience, we c...
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| | Riding upwind - I am helping with a merit badge for Scout Troop 880 (The best troop in South Windsor, CT). Yesterday was windy and colder than ideal riding temperature. In this photo we are getting ready to set off for a 15 mile ride.
You can see my Fire...
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| | You know you are a homebrewer when ... - You see a coffee urn at a conference and wonder how you can turn it into a brew kettle.
You see a plastic bucket of paint and consider how it would work as a primary fermenter.
Your idea of a great time in the bar is to taste test as many...
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| | 2010 PMI NA LIM #4. Day 3 - Wrap up. Well worth it. - The 2010 PMI NA LIM is over. Today was a fabulous day.
The first great session covered the work that PMI is doing to link practitioners and academics. The challenge is "How do we get academics in need of project management research topics...
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| | 2010 PMI NA LIM #3 a. Great dinner on Day 2 - Hour long meeting with fellow SNEC-PMI director in National Pastime Sports Bar was very productive. We took the time for in-depth discussion of chapter events and planning that we normally don't have the time for. I got a few tips that will...
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| | 2010 PMI NA LIM #3. In a nutshell - Disappointing - Day 2 of the PMI NA LIM is disappointing so far (I am writing this after walking out of the afternoon general session halfway through the motivational speaker's speech which mostly consists of him bragging about himself). I guess I am only ...
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| | 2010 PMI NA LIM #2. In a nutshell - sincerity. - Day one of 2010 PMI NA LIM got off to a slow start. Opening statements were sincere and reflective of the professional association. I don't recall questions on the PMP exam asking "Are you a fun speaker?" or "Name 7 ways to bring fun to a p...
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| | 2010 PMI NA LIM #1 - How many acronyms can you fit in one title? PMI NA LIM stands Project Management Institute North America Leadership Institute Meeting.
I am writing from Bradley International Airport, en route to the the 2010 LIM. It was a 20 minute drive,...
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| | How to get the most from a conference - 10 proven tips - Here you are, at the end of a three day conference with a bag of flyers from vendors and handouts from the sessions you attended. When you get home, these papers will go in the "Will get to it one day" pile, along with the remnants of last ...
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| | The good things in life - Good thing #1.
Tonight's mail delivered our new US Passports. This is incredible service. It is 10 days (5 business days) since we submitted the applications and already we have the new passports. I am astounded. This is the regular servic...
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| | Oath of Allegiance that I took on 9/17/2010 in Bridgeport, CT - Yesterday, my wife and I, along with 50 other immigrants took the Oath of Allegiance to become US citizens. It has been quite a ride since we started this journey in 1994.
Here is the Oath of Allegiance:
I hereby declare, on oath, that ...
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| | Are your intake valves unclean? - Putting gas in this morning, I read the sign at the pump. The sign says "Brand X helps to clean your intake valves". This is good news, because just last night I woke up at 11:47 PM in a cold sweat, wondering if my Honda's intake valves are...
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| | Home Brewing - batch #1, part 4 - Taste testing - Just tasted the first batch of home brew that I made last week. Yummy.
It is carbonated although still cloudy and tastes fresh. It will get better by aging in the bottles from here on out.
In the meantime, Batch #2 appears to have finis...
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| | Home Brewing - batch #1, part 3 - I bottled the brew last night. It looked to me that the fermentation was complete and I had the same specific gravity reading of 1.020 for 2 days.
After bottling my home brew, I read on the internet that we may have bottled too early and f...
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| | Home Brewing - batch #1, part 2 - It has been a busy 48 hours. Fermentation started on Friday night, and this morning the bubbles had stopped in the airlock. The hydrometer showed 1.020 and 1.016 this evening which means that fermentation is still going on, even though ther...
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| | Home Brewing - batch #1 - Thanks to Rich at www.brew-wine.com in East Hartford, I purchased a great home brew kit and the necessary utensils. With Rich's coaching and my family's help, We brewed 5 gallons of Amber beer last night. We had some hiccups (pun intended)...
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| | Home brewing beer as a hobby - This week, I investigated a new hobby - home brewing. I became interested after seeing a home brewing kit for $40. This will relieve my ongoing frustration with lack of my favorite South African beer - Castle Lager here in Connecticut. Furt...
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| | Podcast: How to prepare for stunningly successful status meetings - Do you feel like you are in the hot seat of the interrogation room when presenting the current status of your IT project? Help yourself and your project by following these five simple steps to prepare for IT project status meetings, as list...
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| | Cruisin' on Main Street 2010 - Visited the Cruisin' on Main Street car show today, in Manchester, Connecticut. Sunny day and hundreds of cars of all shapes and sizes. Porsche, Chevy, Ford, Triumph, Studebaker, Buick, and many well-crafted and very much loved hotrods.
T...
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| | What does a hiring manager want to see in an IT project manager? - While conducting research for my next book, one of the topics that came up was the skills and behaviors that hiring managers want to see when hiring IT project managers.
Hiring managers want to feel comfortable that a candidate is competen...
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| | Reminder of ways to earn your PDUs - Here is a quick refresher of the many ways that you can earn your PDUs.
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| | Receiving project management lessons in the dentist chair - Yesterday, my dentist (Dr. Mike) and his assistant demonstrated lessons that will help project managers deliver more value. The project charter was "inflict great discomfort and pain". Just kidding. I needed a new crown on a fractured tooth...
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| | Blast from the past - "Ag Pleez Daddy
Won't you take us to the drive-in ..."
I thought of these Jeremy Taylor lyrics as we sat under a "made to fit" evening watching falling stars, fireflies and Toy Story 3, with the half-moon shining on Mansfield, CT drive-i...
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