The TAG BPM Society kicked off with a bang.  135 people attended the first meeting, which I suspect is a record breaking number for an inaugural Society meeting.  What it says to me is that many companies still value process improvement and recognize it as a way to cutting costs and enhancing all kinds of efficiencies.  In technology, as in most parts of life, there are many buzz words and "flavors of the month".  They come and go.  It's great to see that PI is here to stay.  The verbiage has changed over the years, but the essence of the idea has been with us for a long time.

TAG now has twenty societies.  Some say that's too many but I don't agree.  My plan is to continue continue to look to match emerging (or established/uncovered) industry interests with new Societies.  I have had requests for: open source; hardware; international; and a few more.  Feel free to let me know if we are missing something.

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TAG has just hired its first Government Relations Director, who starts on 9/17.  As we approach our ten year anniversary the time seems right to listen more closely to our member companies in respect to their perception of our state's policies (or lack there of) and their impact on our technology companies.  I would love to get your input on if we are or are not a tech friendly state.  And if not, what would you like to see added or taken away from our laws to make us more competitive?

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

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The Minnesota High Tech Council has taken on the challenge of inspiring students to engage in math, science, technology and engineering (STEM).I had a chance to hear Kate Rubin's (the CEO of the Minnesota Council) presentation at a recent meeting of tech associations from across North America. Kate presented national findings on the topic to tee-up her presentation.Here is one stat stood out to me - in a recent national survey it was found that 7 of 10 parents feel their kids take enough or two much math. She went on to report that children who take 2 years of math (AlgebraII), in high school, more than double their likelihood of completing college - in any discipline - and within four years. Corresponding Minnesota information was provided that made my stomach a bit queasy -job growth in the tech industry will require an additional 10,500 college grads by 2010 and college graduates entering retirement rises from 9,000 to 25,000 per year by 2010. I don't have the Georgia information yet, but I am sure it's follows the same pattern. My question for anyone who has an opinion is how do we stem the tide and avert a looming crisis? TAG wants to play an active role in getting more of our children to take up careers in science.... Where should we focus our energy? Is it in the policy area? I had a recent conversation with a technology teacher from a GA high school recently and he felt that we should mandate that students would have to take at least one class in technology to graduate. Should we advocate for more math and science requirements. In Minnesota, the tech association isvisiting all if the middle schools to draw awareness to facts like how children who take math are more likely to graduate from college in four years. Kate said that kids seemed angry for not knowing and are responding. Minnesota has been successful in putting more requirements for math and science in their curriculums. Massachusetts is currently considering adding a technology requirement. What are your thoughts?We will use your input as we create a strategy for 2008 -2010.

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I have joined the world of the bloggers-sphere. We wanted to create a place to espouse TAG thoughts, and in return, hear from lots of people with far more knowledge and wisdom about technology than I have. My hope is that in addition to doing our best to stay “contemporary,” this initiative will give new insights to TAG staff, blog participants and me. How am I doing so far? Has anyone learned anything yet? Of course not, but I do plan to be on the receiving end of learning nearly all the time.

So here goes – I read an interesting article on Forbes.com today that referred to the “Tech Boom and Media Bust.” According to this article, Red Herring Magazine (which I subscribed to in the past) has three days to pay the rent or “get out.” Yep, they were hit with an eviction notice. The story goes on to say that the NASDAQ is hitting all-time highs, but many traditional forms of media are struggling. They didn’t mention that my home town paper (for the ten years I was in Chicago) had to sell to Sam Zell. And the Chicago Tribune is even selling the Cubs. The Cubs….the most beloved team in baseball (that should stir up some comment if you are a Braves fan)! Blogging gets a big play in this article and Caulfield goes on to compare costs for a one-third page in a magazine with a rate base of 600,000 for $27,500 or pay $21,000 for 600,000 impressions for an ad on TechCrunch.

I think you get the picture. So, my question to anyone out there listening is, “Where are we heading in regards to how people will view information?” Will there be any newspapers or magazines left standing twenty years from now? Chris Anderson had some interesting thoughts in The Long Tail. Given that he is managing editor of Wired, I found myself wondering if he was not predicting his magazine’s own demise (Or did I miss something?).

Okay, so that’s it for my first blog. Please, please, respond, so I can feel like I didn’t waste five minutes of my time (just kidding, it took a little longer than that). Now, if you are not a member you can only read and comment about this stuff. So sign up if you have something to say on one of our community blogs (or sign up any way, because I want everyone to be a TAG member).

PS….I expect to blog every couple of weeks and may not come back to this particular story. I think I am going to talk about Americans and why they don’t live as long, on average, as some third world countries…but who knows…

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Get to know Tino Mantella

1. What is your idea of earthly happiness?
Inner peace; and that comes from feeling good about what I am accomplishing while sticking close to my values. Most important are family, work, religion, sports and personal goal setting and attainment in all of the above.

2. What natural gift would you most like to possess?
I am blessed to not be wanting for a natural gift as I feel I have the basic tools that I need to be a contributor to society. Leading charities for most of my adult life has helped me to see just how lucky I have been. So, it’s up to me whether I am a “stumbling block or stepping stone”.

3. What is your motto?
Not really a motto but there are three slogans that I particularly like, and none of them are mine -
-"Never give up, never give up….” (Churchill)
-“Lead, follow or get out of the way” (Ted Turner (I think))
-“Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you” (my college wrestling coach)

4. Who is your hero?
My parents

5. What is your greatest professional accomplishment?
Leading a team that raised over $50 million dollars and built a number of inner city YMCAs in Chicago.  I am very proud of this, because of the lasting impact it will have on the underprivileged communities they serve.

6. What would be the first sentence in your autobiography?
"He was a tenacious sort who always pushed to raise the bar higher than most thought was practical and/or possible."

7. What was your first job?
My dad owned a beer distributorship when I was eight years old, so we broke all child labor laws by lending him a hand. I would help him unload the big trailers full of cases of beer and kegs.  I remember those full tractor trailer deliveries coming in, in the middle of the night. Boy were those kegs of beer heavy.

8. What is your greatest non-professional accomplishment?
Having three great kids (now grown) although my wife gets most of the credit.

9. What are your hobbies?
Listening to non-fiction audio books; tennis; running, and on occasion golf and on rare occasion wrestling with my son, who wrestles for the University of Pittsburgh.

10. PC or Mac?
PC

11. Blackberry or Cell?
I don’t use the cell much or the blackberry at all, but I do spend a lot of time sending and responding to emails.

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