Year-end Post from Harrybbbbb

Well - its the final trading day on Wall Street with light trading volume. Seems like everyone is starting to key up for New Years Eve merriment!

I hope the past year has been fruitful for you and yours. May the New Year bring even greater opportunity and good fortune!

It has been a profound honor to communicate with you this past year and I look forward to even more dialog in 2008!

All the best to you moving forward!!!

harrybbbbbb

PS - make New Years Resolutions that are reasonable and you are like to achieve!

:)

Prediciton: Seahawks 14, Atlanta 10 in today's NFL game

Go HAWKS!

:)

harrybbbb

Another use of SBS

Brazil's state water utility: www.marketwatch.com returns the following for the ticker symbol SBS

Companhia De Saneamento Basi. SBS

Blast from the Past

I wonder if you are engaging in the same reflective, strategic thinking behavious that I am right now. The week between Christmas and New Years is a great time to plan ahead. But in my planning mode, I also bumped into some old stuff that I had forgotten but still cherish.

Why did you know? Did you know that I served Peace Corps in late 2000\early 2001 and assisted it in its 76+ country roll-out of SBS 4.5? Musta been where I developed my interest in overseas outreach and activity? The point is the past drives the future in subtle ways :)

have a good day....harrybbbbb

Global Concerns and Stable Markets

Today's assassination of Benzair Bhutto in Pakistan, on the surface, won't affect your billable hours today as a Small Business Specialist. However - as you elevate into the world of thinking business and "BusinessSpeak" - I would encourage you to tune in business TV channels such as CNBC or Fox Business and watch how the markets are reacting.

Eveything is tied together and today's unforutnate events should be viewd in both a global context and your appreciation for stable markets. Investor and owners like stable markets....trust me!

:)

harrybbbb

The Day After.....

Hey gang - nothing like that good feeling after a hearty Christamas Day....don''t know about u but I am using today as a half-speed day to do my writing and what not....

Question: is today a company workday in your firm or a day off?

:)

harrybbbbb

Merry Christmas NPR-style

First of all - Merry Christmas one and all!

Second - I was listening to National Public Radi recently to a story where a group of Muslims was being interviewed. This gorup said it is permissible for Christians to proclaim MERRY CHRISTMAS instead of the more nuetral Happy Holidays which is more inclusive of all faiths. Ergo - kindly accept my Merry Christmas in this same spirit.

cheers....harrybbbb

Seahawks 21, Ravens 7

Its raining hard in Seattle - great conditions for a Seahawk win!

I have placed me bet....whadda u think?!?!?!

:)

harrybbbbb

Ski Ya Later!

Hey - it's a holiday weekend, there is fresh pow-pow at The Pass and I am taking my boys skiing!

Ski Ya Later!

harrybbbbb

Boxers or Briefs?

Remember that famous line from movies? :)

My quesition to you: is today a half-day or full-day of work....given it is a holiday Friday?

thanks

harry

Google oggles SMB channel partners

Please extend a kind and warm welcome to Google with its hosted apps and its first attempt to engage SMB channel partners. Everyone can appreciate a robust and healthy ecosystem and that is something free markets do best!

You are encouraged to click over the check out Google's SMB channel partner story:
http://www.google.com/a/smallbiz/providers/

Disclosure: Google has an advertisement in the current (DEC\JAN issue) of SMB Partner Community magazine (subscribe at www.smbnation.com). However - I do not own stock in Google. :)



cheers....harrybbbbb

One up, One down - the whacky world of SMB events...

Hey gang - my good friends at ChannelPro regret to report that they have cancelled their SMB channel day at CES in Las Vegas on January 9th.

The good news is that we are about to open registration for our SMB 2.0 workshops (two day format) for NYC, Toronto and Europe in JUST A FEW HOURS! Visit www.smbnation.com later tonight :)

So fear not - you have a place to go....

Thanks!

harrybbbb

2008 Annual Salary Survey Is Now OPEN!

Hey gang - we have just opened the annual salary survey for SMB Partner Community magazine....last year we had over 300 responses!

The survey is listed here: http://www.smbnation.com/

I personally want to thank you for taking some time to honestly and objectively conplete this survey. Knowledge is power and the more we know about is other, the kinder we will be!

:)

harrybbbb
Harry Brelsford
CEO
SMB Nation

arrg....Seattle Seahawks lose today

Arrg....we lost by three points (really felt like more) to Carolina today....oh well - at least I got a lot of writing done during the game....good defensive battle.

Congrats to Mark Crall's team = Carolina.

harrybbbb

Shipping Update: New Small Business Specialist Primer Book (70-282, 70-631) to ship 12-25-07

Hey-hey....we have about a ten day delay in shipping the new *white book* due to snowy weather at printer in MINN and some other madness....so Santa will bring it on 12-25-07....I will lieterall have folks working XMAS DAY (for I am mean)

I think you will like it as there are all new 70-282 questions along with an amazing section on passing the WSS 70-631 exam...our guest writer of that section did an AMAZING JOB!

Anyways - thought I wold manage expectations by passing along this scheduling update.

thanks...harrybbbbb

www.smbnation.com

New use for the term SBS

Singapore Bus System (SBS)

'nough said....harrybbbb

No sooner than I covered CompUSA then....

You might have read my newsletter a few weeks ago discussing a CompUSA mailer that was generating demand for the services offered by Small Business Specialists....

Then comes word over the weekend the CompUSA is closing down all stores.

Welcome to the whacky world of 15-min business models.

:)

harrybbbbb

Back in the day when SMB meant something else

Hey - here is a blast form the past....when I (like many other readers) achieved the NetWare certificaiton - I knew SMB to be Server Messaging Blocks!

Microsoft security patches focus on client bugsInfoWorld - San Francisco,CA,USAMicrosoft also issued important updates for the Windows Vista SMB (Server Message Block) version 2 filesharing protocol, the Vista kernel, and the Message ...See all stories on this topic

:)

Seems like SMB is still around in Vista....

cheers...harrybbbb

Real Worldism - Office 2007 and Mobile5\6

Using my poetic license of calling 'em like I see 'em, I submit for your consideration the following real worldism. There I was working the booth at the TS2 event in New Jersey earlier this week. Cyndi Moody at my office sent me a very important file to review from a big customer. It was a Microsoft Word document so I certainly believed no problem to read it on my Windows mobile device (Aka my mobile phone). WRONG!

Up and coming managed services author Matt Makowicz works his table at the New Jersey TS2 event on December 4th.

As reported by CNET and other popular media outlets, the existing Windows Mobile 5 and Windows Mobile 6 operating systems do not natively open and read Office 2007. Why? Because Office 2007 introduced a new file format based on Office Open XML whereby document file extensions now end in the letter "x" in part to compete with the open-source OpenDocument Format.
This all changed with a patch released November 28, 2007 titled Microsoft Office Mobile 6.1: Upgrade for Microsoft Office 2007 file formats. I proceeded to complete the upgrade from ww.microsoft.com/downloads where I clicked Windows Mobile in the lower center part of the screen.

My first challenge was to determine if I needed to spend any money to upgrade my Office Mobile version to a compatible level for the Office 2007 file format patch to work. I clicked over to http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ycgykhcab.0.0.u8qs87bab.0&ts=S0305&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.microsoft.com%2Fwindowsmobile%2Fsoftware%2Fdefault.mspx&id=preview and selected Learn more about Microsoft Office Mobile on the main landing page. That took me to another page titled Microsoft Office Mobile where I selected the Upgrade or Purchase Office Mobile now link. I performed a quick sanity check under Learn how to upgrade where I easily confirmed I have the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system. Note that I could not find a way to tell what Office Mobile version I had (e.g. no About screen in Word Mobile) so I simply looked at the box my mobile telephone shipped in. Note that Windows Mobile 5 and Windows Mobile 6 qualify for this Office Mobile upgrade (to Office Mobile 6.1). So, I then clicked the Upgrade Now button resulting in the Microsoft Mobile Upgrade page. After confirming I was all goodness with the supported operating systems and ActiveSync version 4.5, I proceeded to select Worldwide English (default) under Select your language. Volia - you are deposited at Download Microsoft Office Mobile page as seen in the figure below.
Here is where you download the nearly 13MB file. Thankful my mobile device has a huge secure digital (SD) card to ultimately accommodate this large installation!
Click Download. At my home office, this .MSI file took approximately 3 mins to download (time enough to refill my espresso!). The download experience ended with a follow-on screen allowing me to download more ring tones (no thank you - I am using the Outsourced movie theme as my current ring tone). J
I double-clicked the MSI file I had downloaded to my laptop with my mobile device connected by USB cradle and answered Run at the installer dialog box. I then clicked Next at the Welcome to the Setup Wizard for Microsoft Office Mobile 6.1 page of the Microsoft Office Mobile 6.1 wizard. I answered I accept the terms in the license agreement on the License Agreement page followed by Next. I clicked Next on the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) page. Then I clicked Next on the Program Installation page.
The Application Downloading Complete dialog box (see figure below) appeared allowing me to look over at my mobile device and select where I wanted the application to be installation. I select my storage card which had some absurd amount of free space like 995MB (the application reported it needed 7.3MB).

I clicked OK at this dialog box after selecting my storage card on my mobile device to installation the application.
My laptop computer displayed the Setup Completed page of the Microsoft Office Mobile 6.1 wizard and I clicked Finish. I then clicked Install on my mobile device. The mobile device returned an advisory dialog box titled Microsoft Office Mobile Installer wherein I was advised that Microsoft Office Mobile 6.1 would become the default application for Microsoft Office documents. I selected Yes on my mobile device. After about two minutes, I was advised that Microsoft Office Mobile .CAB was successfully installed on your device and I clicked OK.
I then returned to Outlook Mobile on my mobile device, proceeded to open Cyndi's very important e-mail and read the insertation order information from a very large and happy client!!!! I then returned to my regularly scheduled life where I truly believe we should make business, not war!

Seattle 35, Atlanta 7

Hey - still time to comment on today's NFL game in Seattle...it starts in about four hours....I am going with the home team in a blow out :)

harrybbbb

In just hours - my technical newsletter will have a Office Mobile story

Hey gang - sign up for my free SMB Advisory newsletter at www.smbnation.com and in a few hours I will ship my technical edition that tells the Office Mobile 6.1 story where you can open Office 2007 *.x files on your mobile device.

Thanks

Harry

Pacific NW lunch at Comcast

You've read the blogs about Comcast in SMB - come get the facts...I will see you there...


Comcast Lunch & Learn for SMB IT Professionals


The Comcast Business Services Group invites you to join us for an interactive meeting at our Washington Market office.

Comcast is committed to growing our presence in the Small and Medium Business Space and believes our customers’ success is dependent on them having the best communication services and professional technology support. Our goal for this meeting is to provide you an update on Comcast Business Class services and our plans for 2008. Come and learn about:

The Comcast Hybrid Fiber Coax network
Comcast Business Class products (Internet, Voice and Cable TV)
Microsoft Communication Services from Comcast
Why Comcast recommends our SMB Customers have Professional IT support

Interactive! We will dedicate time to answer questions and listen to your thoughts on how we can better serve our SMB customers.


When: Wednesday December 12, 2008 10:30 AM – 1 PM
Where: Comcast Market Office
15815 25th Ave West
Lynnwood, WA 98087
Mapquest is wrong! From I-5 N or S bound take the 164th exit, head west 1 mile, north on 25th Ave W. Go to the end of 25th. Please check in at the front desk (not the cable store).
Lunch provided - RSVP please
Thanks! Mike McCarty
Mike_mccarty@cable.comcast.com
Voice: 425.766.1107

busy busy buzz buzz cough cough

Wow - sorry to be offline for a few days - busy busy week in NYC including locking down a venue for our late March 2008 SMB Nation East two-day workshop....

And I learned something I already knew - do not travel with a cold....ouch!

Have a great friday

harrybbbb

The secret to writing....

Do it on Sunday while watching football in the background as your "white noise"

You heard it here first :)

harrybbbb

SBSC Partner Plunge event launched, SMB Nation fall conference tickets are part of prize

Hey gang - see the cool Partner Plunge contest at www.partnerplunge.com

FYI - I have donated two prizes:
Fourth and Fifth Place Prizes: one SMB Nation Fall Conference attendee pass for each winning organization. (Provided by SMB Nation - $1500 value each) The 2008 SMB Nation Fall Conference is scheduled for Oct. 4-6, 2008 at the Bell Harbor Conference Center in Seattle, WA.

Kindly note these prizes include air fare for one person....so that is an attendee pass and air fare...

So cool!

harrybbbb