Executive Playground

TeamVention online launching April 2010

TeamVention online - perfect for service improvement, cost reduction and culture change programmes in the NHS and Public Sector

TeamVention online launches May 2010

We are very proud and excited to announce the launch of our very first product, TeamVention online 'creating the perfect environment for business transformation and innovation'. TeamVention is a unique web based application which includes a collaborative communications platform, a searchable employee Talent Bank with online CVs, a multi media platform of employee developmental tools and resources and an online version of our highly successful TeamVention Challenge®.

TeamVention® online will launch in May 2010 following an initial unveiling to investors at Warwick University Proof of Concept Expo in April. This will be followed by a live pilot with our NHS partners Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust. We appreciate immensley the important contribution of MidTECH NHS Innovations as a supporter and investor which has helped to make this happen. During May and June there are once in a lifetime opportunities to benefit from TeamVention online at never to be repeated prices. This is a perfect opportunity for any public sector organisation under pressure from restricted budgets. With TeamVention online you could achieve very much more for very much less. Register your interest early by emailing teamvention@executiveplayground.co.uk

10 FREE (or almost) collaboration tools - from Zeke Camusion LinkedIn

I travel a lot and so do my partners and employees. We often find ourselves working very far away from each other and we need tools to work just like if we were in the same room. These are my 10 favorite free (or almost free) collaboration tools.

Skype - http://www.skype.com/
Skype allows you to talk to people all over the world for free. It also offers chat, video chat and you can also share your screen with other people.

BaseCamp - http://basecamphq.com/
If you're looking for a tool to manage your projects, BaseCamp is by far the best option. Create to-do lists, milestones, projects, upload files, assign tasks to people, control the progress of your project and communicate with other team members.

Twiddla - http://www.twiddla.com/
Think of Twiddla as a whiteboard that several people can see at the same time. It's great to explain ideas, draw arrows, call-outs, etc.

Google Docs - http://docs.google.com/
This Google tool allows you to share documents with your team. Just put them in a folder everybody can access and you can all edit the same documents.

Mint - http://www.mint.com/
This is a great money-management tool and it's free.

LogMeIn - https://secure.logmein.com/
Do you need to remotely control a computer? This is a great tool for it. You can use your partner's computer from Seattle if you're in New York. You can leave your computer at home and access it from any other computer in the world.

Google Calendar - https://www.google.com/calendar
Keep all your events and meetings organized with this tool from Google. The best part is that you and your team can share the same calendar so you can all see what everyone else is up to and when they all have some free time to meet.

BlueTie - http://bluetie.com/
This application isn't free, but it's only $5/month, so it's almost free. BlueTie is a great tool to manage emails and keep your contacts organized. You can share email messages and contacts with your team. BlueTie has a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) engine built-in that I really like.

PamFax - http://www.pamfax.biz/
Send and receive faxes for very cheap from your own computer. You can send documents (PDF, DOC, etc.). When you receive a fax, you'll get the pages as email attachments that you can print if you want. Having fax has never been so cheap.

EchoSign - http://www.echosign.com/
Isn't it annoying when you have to print out an agreement, sign it, fax it, have the other person sign it and fax it back to you? There's a better option: EchoSign. This cool tool allows you to sign documents online in just a few seconds.

Zeke Camusio
Get Internet Marketing Tips to Grow Your Company:
http://www.TheOutsourcingCompany.com/blog

Special announcement from Executive Playground

This is a very special announcement from Executive Playground. Yesterday our Proof of Concept funding application was approved, clearing the way for us to develop TeamVention and turn it into a unique web-based application for Business Transformation & Innovation. This is so exciting for us. It's a paradigm shift for our business in one sense, but creativity and innovation in business in an area we absolutely excel in. This concludes a very long chapter which has lasted over a year, and yes on a few occasions I nearly gave up. This result couldn't come at a better time, just before a sparkly brand new 2010 which I am now so looking forward to. Merry Christmas everybody and a very Happy and Successful New Year to you all.

Top 3 Benefits & Barriers of Social Media in Business

The top 3 benefits and barriers to using Social Media in business as voted by attendees of our 'Social Media for Business Benefit' training event held at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.

Top 3 Benefits:

1) Generate more sales

2) Raise profile of company

3) Lead generation

Top 3 Barriers

1) Lack of skills & knowledge (about social media)

2) Time & rescources

3) Defining Return on Investment

To achieve more benefits and overcome your barriers to using social media to advance your business, call 0845 330 7884

A whinge about Ecademy social networking site

Wrote a blog (whinge) on Ecademy http://tinyurl.com/ydrjsy9
about the 'new' Ecademy! Not sure why I promote it to delegates anymore.

Mastering Social Media for Business Benefits

Our next series of Mastering Social Media for Business Benefits at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce starts on the on 4th November with an interactive 2 hour breakfast seminar, great for networking and to gauge what's going on in the business world as far as social media is concerned. This is followed by a full training day on 18th November. Our morning is spent developing your social media strategy and integrating it with whatever marketing strategy exists for you. The afternoon is spent online (there is a laptop for each delegate), developing your social media profile and opening accounts to get you started. This day covers the main networks beneficial to business such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Ecademy. To book and for more information call Leon Rovira at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce on 0121 454 6171. For more details click here

Mastering Social Media for Business Training Day

Despite the phenomal growth of Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn and much talk of business benefits, many still believe social media is a waste of time and has a negative effect on business, staff productivity and security. Many ban staff from accessing social networking sites during working hours.

There are understandable concerns around security and managers are struggling to deal with disciplinary issues around staff useage. These concerns need be addressed as a priority to enable business to leverage the enormous advantage that social media can give them - when used effectively. 

We offer 'traditional' face to face, onsite training for businesses who want to understand, implement and use social media - from policy to process. Call us on 0845 330 7884 to arrange an appointment to discuss your needs.

We also run 2 hour awareness raising breakfast seminars for Birmingham Chamber of Commerce to help businesses understand social media, what it is, what it can do for them and important things to consider in social media strategy.

We follow this up with a hands on training day. The next training day at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce 'Mastering Social Media for Business' is on Wednesday 22nd July 2009. Places are limited to 10 companies to ensure individual attention. Prices are £160 if you are a Chamber member and £210 if you are a non-member. To book call Leon Rovira on 0121 607 1750

This is not about technology - it's about business.