The Concierge Blog
Information is searchable in Windows Internet Explorer. For Windows users, CTRL and F will bring up a search window. In that window, type the topic of interest for the search. Press ENTER.
Who at your office space or property management firm cares if your business is successful? Prove it!
The whole focus of The Concierge Office Suites is to help the firms positioned here to not only survive, but thrive! Clients are constantly being promoted. If you're not successful, The Concierge Office Suites won’t be either.
Staff here are on the look out to make connections between clients and the community. It is a staff objective, time permitting, to introduce clients to each other when they are breezing through the office business center. It’s the connections that make the difference between traditional office space and being in a full service office business center with staff that diligently seek the best interests of their clients.
Coworking opportunities at The Concierge Office Suties are free every other week during Jelly! Chattanooga events. This is a great way to meet other business people, have an uninterrupted power supply, have WiFi access, and drink all the coffee you can stand – FREE. During these events guests are announced through Twitter.com/ConciergeLevel along with “sound bites” of the Jelly! Chattanooga conversations that might be interesting. There is also talk of video guest interviews that would be posted on the web for greater exposure to the world about who you are and what you do.
When was the last time your property management promoted your business to their clients and other businesses in their e-newsletter, with a growing subscription? The Concierge Office Suites makes a point to offer this opportunity for their clients to promote their business, not-for-profit events in the area, weekly area wide activities and be able to learn more about how to use social media for business through their e-news distribution.
The Concierge Office Suites is open to suggestions beyond all these opportunities to promote the firms positioned here. Listening to what clients ask for and desire is what sets this firm apart from all the rest.
Coworking and Social Media
...what it means to entrepreneurs, small business and freelancers
Wish you had been to BarCamp Chattanooga to learn more about coworking and social media? It was an interesting learning experience and had a great time. There were some serious networking and learning experiences for all those that attended. If you were interested in social media and how to "reach out" on a limited budget, this was the place to be.
My only remorse was there were no presenters from the Tennessee Small Business Development Center, SCORE, or other business catalyst groups there from the Chattanooga area, that I recognized. I was hoping there would be. Kudos to Chattanooga State for the great location. Dryan, Juncture, and all the other event sponsors thanks for your suppprt to bring such a cool event to Chattanooga. It was an opportunity to connect with innovative thinkers. Can't wait until the next one!
We presented “Coworking and Social Media……what it means to entrepreneurs, small business and freelancers.” Thanks to BarCampChatt.com we posted out PowerPoint presentation for all the attendees to review and its on Linkedin. The presentation offers some great links to news and information related to both of these growing international trends. Hope you check it out.
Free Conference Room Rental!
Jelly! Chattanooga Participants Win
As a surprise perk for attending Jelly! Chattanooga Friday, August 7, 2009, we gave away one free hour of conference room use to some of our participants. These hours may be redeemed during business hours Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Upon request, we have have WiFi and coffee service for our winners and up to eight guests. Come and experience our hospitality. It's more than the office. It's the experience.
The Concierge Office Suites is proud to announce that Gary Labelle with FreeUp Capital Leasing and Strat Parrott of Junctured both won. It was great to share ideas with these gentlemen and share a few laughs, too.
Linkedin.com, I have a profile. Now what?
Great! You’re in the cyber world through Linkedin.com. You can now claim you’re using social media for business. People can search and find your Linkedin.com profile.
Whoa, is that “really you”? Hope you’ve done more than put your name, recent employment position, and where you live. Make sure you enter as much information as possible about who you are professionally on Linkedin.com. Like I’ve shared with several attendees of Jelly! Chattanooga, “sell your sizzle.” People want to do business with and hire people with experience in their field and people with connections. Your profile should reflect these two aspects of who you are.
Next step is beginning your profile promotional campaign. Be more than, just another on-line profile. Get out there, and join one or more Linkedin.com Groups. Click “Groups” on your profile, in the upper left corner. You’ll then be taken to the Groups page.
This is the fun part. You can now choose the kind of group in which you desire to participate. Think about the following:
· Why do you want to be part of this group?
· What groups would benefit you professionally?
· What groups would your customers join?
· What groups would your business associates join?
· What groups would your potential employer join?
· Do you want to join a group that is related to a geographic area?
Once you have the answers to these questions, think about words or phrases describing these types of groups. Write them down, if there is more than one word or phrase.
Once in the “Groups” window and you have your list of words or phrases, in the upper right is the option for “Groups Directory.” Click “Find a Group.” In the “Featured Groups” window in the upper right corner is the “Search Groups” box. Within this box is a place to type in Keywords. You can also choose a category and language. Depending on the keywords you use, there should be a list provided of groups you can join. If not, perhaps you should consider broadening your search scope. Each group has a brief description of why they were formed or who might be interested in participating.
Not all groups are the same. Some are “open access” and everyone who requests can join. Some are “request to join” groups and the moderator determines if you meet the group’s criteria. Choose a group from the list to see which it is. If you request to join, it may take a while for the moderator to approve your request. The moderator may send emails asking questions about your reasons for wanting to join. The moderator can also deny you access to the group.
If you can’t find the group you really want to join, you can create your own. This option is found in the “Groups” window. The option is on the right side, just click the button “Create a Group.” Once in the window, there are all sorts of options you can choose for your newly formed group. You’re in the driver’s seat now.
Don’t think just because you’ve formed a group people will come flocking to it. You’ll want to invite people you know to join you. Groups are great for sharing discussion questions that are relevant to the participants. You can also share web links for relevant news or blog information. Jobs can even be posted to the group. Participants can also comment on discussion questions, web links and jobs. This interaction is what makes a great group and helps the gain referrals.
Groups are a great way to find like minded people. Hope you’re out there sharing your experience and interesting information. I look forward to helping you expand your knowledge of social media and learning from your experience there.
Linkedin.com a New Twist on The Old Resume
Linkedin.com is a one of the many outlets online for business related social media interaction. It is free and a perfect way to let people know who you are professionally. It can be used as an on-line resume or career summary. It offers lots more features for your potential employer and clients to review about you or your firm. It’s a great way to gain referrals for work you’ve provided, too! It’s not a place to post pictures of your vacation, pets or kids. Linkedin.com is business minded in its interactions. If you are looking for a new position, new business or are unemployed, you need a page in this social media outlet. I could cover every Linkedin.com feature, but we would have book and not an article here. If you haven’t been there, sign up and check it out!
This is a interesting new feature that Linkedin.com now offers. You now have the opportunity to upload your resume in Microsoft Word, PDF, text or HTML files of up to 200KB. Before, you only had the option of filling in the fields for your profile. While you’re updating your profile and to better promote your work experience, search for a group in the geographic area you desire to work or in the field you desire. Within the Linkedin.com group, participate in or create a discussion in relation to your field of employment. Also recommended is posting a web link to relevant on-line news with your comments about why you thought this was of interest to your group. This interaction is the opportunity to underscore your experience and knowledge in your field. Social media is the opportunity to have an dialog on-line, share a like experience, and promote who you are.
The Concierge Office Suites is a marketing partner with:
The Sports Legends Challenge: The Ultimate Sports Fantasy
Atlanta, GA, May 21— The Sports Legends Challenge presented by AbsolutePoker.net is the ultimate sports fantasy experience. For the first time in history, sports fans from around the world will compete with and against 25 of the greatest Sports Legends of our time, including Troy Aikman, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Richard Petty, Sugar Ray Leonard, and many more. The event will also feature 25 of the world’s top Poker Pros, including Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Chris Moneymaker, Johnny Chan and others. The Sports Legends, Poker Pros and participants will compete in a wide-range of tournaments for up to $10,000,000 in prize money. The feature event will be the Sports Legends All-Star Poker Challenge which will pair the Sports Legends, Poker Pros and top-finishing competitors in a winner-take-all, No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em grand finale televised nationally, Thanksgiving Day, on Fox Sports.
Mike Ditka commented, “I’m thrilled to be involved in a great event like the Sports Legends Challenge. It’s going to be a special couple of days, seeing old friends like Jerry West who I guarded in college at Pitt. Couple that with competing against fans and peers while being coached by the top Poker Pros in the world will be a first for me.”
On September 14-17, 2009, the inaugural Sports Legends Challenge, benefitting the Butch Kerzner Summit Foundation, will take place at Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas. The resort will serve as a backdrop for this world-class sports and gaming event.
Bruce Bibbero, Founder and CEO of the Sports Legends Challenge commented, “We believe that this distinct combination of New York Yankees Fantasy Baseball Camp meets the World Series of Poker will provide an experience to be talked about forever.” Bibbero continued, “The event at Atlantis is just the beginning. It is our plan to hold events internationally and give fans around the world the opportunity to interact with their Sports Legends in ways they never imagined possible. These events will feature Legends from Soccer, Cricket, Auto Racing, Rugby and more, with the first event to be held in London in 2010.”
The sports icons participating in the Sports Legends Challenge include: Troy Aikman, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Richard Petty, Sugar Ray Leonard, Emmitt Smith, Reggie Jackson, Joe Namath, Mike Ditka, Julius Erving, Fuzzy Zoeller, Herschel Walker, Laffit Pincay, Jim Brown, Bobby Hull, Jerry West, Brooks Robinson, Gale Sayers, Kyle Petty, Michael Strahan, and additional Legends to be named.
www.SportsLegendsChallenge.com
How do you know if a property is truly a full-service office business center?
Coworking Chattanooga: A New International Trend in Shared Work Space
Chattanooga, TN – April 1, 2009 - Connecting Chattanooga to the international trend of memberships with access to shared, collaborative, open-forum workspace, The Concierge Level, LLC (TCL, LLC) is proud to introduce to Chattanooga a new work environment concept: Coworking. “Coworking is an emerging work environment trend, generating a twist with continuous networking within a workspace resulting in sharing of resources. We’ll be offering coworking memberships beginning in April. Our office business center is cutting edge in this movement. We started with the location and now are seeking coworkers. The current international coworking trend is to start with co-workers and then find a space. We want to make it simple,” says Denise Reed, President and Owner.
According to John Erik Metcalf co-founder of Conjunctured, a coworking group in Austin, Texas, “I love seeing coworking exist in any form or fashion. The folks who [originally] used the word coworking were in an apartment. I think it’s wonderful how it’s evolved. Best of luck in Chattanooga, you and your members are always welcome here.” Conjunctured was the result of John Erik Metcalf coworking at Jelly events, the blogging community and deciding to form a group to find space. The Concierge Level, LLC has the space and is now offering Jelly events and now permanent coworking space with memberships. TCL, LLC is now on Twitter.com as ConciergeLevel and other blogging forums to share our coworking membership updates and Jelly! Chattanooga events.
Reed wants to provide coworking space to a “new breed” of worker, citing a recent December 15, 2008, article published on The Wall Street Journal website as saying ‘There’s a new class of worker out there: Nearly Autonomous, Not in the Office, doing Business in their Own Time Staff, or NANOBOTS, for short.’
“NANOBOTS are a different breed. Their organizations trust them with the freedom, technology and other resources to do their jobs without coming to ‘the office’…They need the personal networks, knowledge and experience to deal with specific tasks, situations and problems on their own. They are highly talented and show positive attitudes toward achieving goals for their employers. They are highly self-motivated, and will often create their autonomous and flexible roles themselves.”
In an effort to reach out to the ever-changing economy and work force TCL, LLC offers a suite of membership packages built around a coworking environment. Firms are searching for ways to cut business expenses and offer employees the opportunity to work outside the traditional employer managed office space. Laptop computers allow staff to work in multiple locations as long as there is an Internet connection. TCL, LLC staff work to meet personal needs providing flexible office and business services as the personal and business environment become more and more blended. The premier location and full menu of business support services are just a request away and may provide welcomed separation between work and home. These services continue to evolve and become more fine-tuned to meet the growing demand for business hotelling, hot desk services, coworking environments, entrepreneurs and a growing number of telecommuters.
According to an article entitled “Coworking: The Ultimate in Teleworking Flexibility” published by PC World website on October 23, 2007, “…Nationwide, there are roughly 16.2 million self-employed teleworkers and 12.4 million teleworkers employed by an outside party. A 2007 survey of over 2,000 workers showed that 79 percent of workers employed in the private sector and half of workers employed in the public sector were worried about feeling isolated and missing human interaction if they were to start telecommuting.”
All TCL, LLC’s coworking memberships offer access to designated, shared, collaborative, open-forum workspace. A la carte services available such as training room to seat up to 30 lecture style, private conference room with seating for eight guests or day office with seating for three by the hour, half-day, and full day. Coworking Memberships may be combined with Virtual Office Services and subject to those terms. This allows an opportunity for co-workers to take advantage of only services they need, as they need them, such as virtual office services and permanent private office rental on a month-to-month basis.
USA Today Computer Security Article
Here’s the link to the USA Today article “How Small Firms Lock Down Data”
It was a great article and got me thinking about how most of my clients handle data back up and security issues related to the computer. I checked out USA Today’s recommendation to contact EVault.com. I did it and went under the small business category to see just how much it might cost. EVault.com says I can back up my files for $3.00 per day. That's steep and probably would be to any “truly small businesses.”
Perhaps just back up your data to flash drive and drop in a safety deposit box. Most of us go the bank and you wouldn't worry about who might gain access to your data. This would have your data off-site from the computer and in a pretty secure location, although this idea is not the most convenient. It would be a less expensive alternative for file backups compared to EVault.com. Just some food for thought.
