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"MzTEK is a non-profit organisation with the aim of addressing the imbalance of women artists working in the fields of new media, computer arts, and technology." My London cousin knows these women and says they are really dynamic and terrific. Although their offerings are f2f, they do have online communities. I like the statement that they are aiming to correct an imbalance, which we may be able to use.

Great blog post on leadership including a Leadership Theories Timeline that informed me. Wonder about digital or online leadership and how it builds on past theories.

Here are five ways to successfully tap into the women's market: 1. Provide good quality information. Producing a newsletter and Web site are excellent ways to demonstrate your expertise and to keep your image in front of clients and prospects. Include plenty of strategies and tips that will help guide women to be more successful in running or growing their businesses. Conducting free seminars or workshops is another good strategy for imparting your knowledge and has the added benefit of serving as a networking forum. 2. Build relationship marketing strategies. Develop and sustain relationships with women and cultivate a sense of community. 3. Host networking events. Historically, women have not had the same opportunities to network as their male counterparts. You can create your own networking events for women clients and prospects. Featuring a guest speaker in your industry can be an excellent addition. Just be sure to build in enough time for networking as well. 4. Sponsor women's business associations or events. If you are looking to target this market and build awareness, consider sponsoring one of the many women's business associations and events. These range from something as specific as mentoring programs (such as the Step Ahead One-on-One Mentoring Program - www.stepaheadonline.com ) to associations for women exporters (such as the Organization of Women in International Trade - www.owit-toronto.ca ). Most hold regular meetings and special functions. Some provide opportunities for sponsors to speak and showcase their expertise. Contributing material to their newsletters, publications and Web sites is another good way to build your identity among members, as these associations often welcome good quality, educational submissions of interest to members. 5. Share core information on a regular basis. Email or mail information that is considered to be "in our mutual interest." News clippings, industry data, notes from indus

"Something successful entrepreneurs should aim to have: Conviction. Being an entrepreneur is not the easy road to success. Sure, you're your own boss-making the conversation in which you ask for a raise far less awkward-but the hours are long, the market always crowded, the naysayers plenty. There will be discouraging news. But the ability to stand behind your decisions is essential. No one else can tell you what you want for your company, and don't let them try. Drive. As an entrepreneur, time is not on your side. The best-laid plans are those that are executed as swiftly as possible. Don't sit on an idea or wait until you've had a chance to "sleep on it." Act now. Innovation. The original brainchild might have been the thing that got you excited enough to take the leap into entrepreneurship. But longevity will depend on continually coming up with new ideas, from products to ways to market them to which audiences to target. Not all of these ideas will be winners. But having them is not optional. Inspiration. You may be your only employee. Or you might have a team that looks to you to engage them, foster their talents, and involve them in the bigger picture. Those employees who feel excited about, and part of, the overall vision will be encouraged to grow alongside you, and work hard for you. Focus. Establish your daily, weekly, quarterly goals and go after them. Connect dots on a daily basis. Avoid distractions, and distracting people. Independence. It's a lonely road, entrepreneurship. Though your goal is to foster community within your company, there will be days when you wish everyone else would be willing to work as hard as you are, to want it as much as you do. But realize that your company's success does mean more to you than it does to anyone else. Be willing to go the road alone on those days when everyone else has seemingly pulled off for lunch. That's what'll make the difference."

""We do our best work when we're physically connected," says Roy Hirshland, CEO of T3 Advisors, a commercial real estate advisor. Dialing in on Skype will work in a pinch, but it's not a substitute, he says. "When you're in the same room, you can see facial expressions, you can feel energy in a room." The idea is based on Media Richness Theory, which posits that some tasks require face-to-face interaction. Skype doesn't fit the bill. "Skype is a great, free way to communicate with sound and picture, but with glitchy connections, awkward camera angles, the limitations of webcams and cheap microphones, etc.," says Dr. Matthew Lombard, a professor at Temple University and president of the International Society for Presence Research. "It's far from the same experience as talking to someone in person. Face-Time and other tablet and phone methods have the advantage of mobility, but they suffer in terms of the vividness of the experience." "Narrow-bandwidth tech like text-based chat rooms and messaging, and email, are great for specific, relatively straight-forward, 'dry' cognitive tasks but not so good for things that involve ambiguity and emotion," Lombard says. "So there are an awful lot of tasks people need to complete in business (and certainly in life generally) that don't lend themselves well to these technologies.""

Blog post on flipping PD into a process starting with coaching to help the educator/learner plan and document goals. by Kristin Daniels in EdSurge, April 18, 2014. subtitle is How to use 'Flipped PD' to build personal learning plans STEPS: "Planning and Documentation "--learner and coach talk about learning goals and create a learning plan Personalized digital content--coach provides just-in-time resources to motivate, inform, engage learner Regularly scheduled PD--ongoing embedded PD Personalization through coaching Communities of learning Could this be adapted as a learning concierge pathway service?

"Networking is a prime form of 21st century learning.  The world is much smaller thanks to technology.  Learning is transforming into a globally collaborative enterprise.  Take for example scientists; professional networks allow the scientific community to share discoveries much faster. Just this month, a tech news article showcased how Harvard scientists are considering that "sharing discoveries is more efficient and honorable than patenting them."  This idea embodies the true spirit of a successful professional learning network: collaboration for its own sake. As educators, we aim to be connected to advance our craft.  On another level, we hope to teach students to use networks to prepare for them for a changing job market.  But what is the best way to approach PLNs?"

by Seth Kahan, April 12, 2013, Fast company 1. fundamental model of membership is in question ...What is membership turning into? Too early to tell. Engaged action is one candidate. This is the anticipated, intentional, collective behavior of a group. 2. Adoption of private sector business practices ...Pursuing the bottomline in tough market conditions seems like a no-brainer, but the overall impact is not necessarily what is desired for a mission driven organization, shifting priorities away from impact and member value. 3. Talent ...continuous, aggressive professional development is an organizational asset only in some associations. This is changing. It means less certainty for employees while it opens up new territory for innovation and expansion of the organization. 4. Competitive intelligence ...many associations are doing negligible work on behalf of their mission. Prices for gathering intelligence are plummeting. Often it is only the CEO who actively searches for new information and connects the dots for organizational strategy. Expect this to change 5. Disruption of members' business Savvy associations leaders are looking around the curve, putting the puzzle together for members. This means going beyond providing information and ata. Instead it means compiling, analyzing, distilling and communicating useful knowledge that impacts members' lives. ???It is not uncommon to see associations beefing up their subject matter experts these days because members need it in a disruptive economy. 6. Driving uptake in a competitive world ...each association owned a small monopoly, providing the single best resource to everyone in their field. No more. With the advent of 24/7 interconnectivity, anyone can set up shop and begin serving your members.

Commencement speeches at different colleges, June 15, 2014 Harvey Mudd College Beth Shapiro, evolutionary biologist "Your unique education has prepared you for careers at the cutting edge of innovation. This is both good news and bad news. It's good news because you're probably going to find a job, it will pay well, and it will be intellectually fulfilling. It's bad news because whatever you thought you were training for when you started this exercise might not actually exist anymore. Five years ago, when you guys were deciding where to go to college, there were very few mobile-app developers or big-data architects, and there certainly weren't any chief listening officers for social media outlets. It's hard to imagine where the next five years will go, but it's kind of fun to do so. ... Who knows, but you guys are going to be among the people that are actually making it happen. And it'll be awesome, as long as you're willing to take some risks and step outside of your comfort zone. When an opportunity arises, take it." UNC at Chapel Hill Atul Gawande, doctor and writer "Ultimately, it turns out we all have an intrinsic need to pursue purposes larger than ourselves, purposes worth making sacrifices for. People often say, 'Find your passion.' But there's more to it than that. Not all passions are enough. Just existing for your desires feels empty and insufficient, because our desires are fleeting and insatiable. You need a loyalty. The only way life is not meaningless is to see yourself as part of something greater: a family, a community, a society. ... the search for purpose is really a search for a place, not an idea. It is a search for a location in the world where you want to be part of making things better for others in your own small way. It could be a classroom where you teach, a business where you work, a neighborhood where you live. The key is, if you find yourself in a place where you stop caring - where your greatest conce

Blog post by Microsoft for Work, May 19, 2014. Excerpt: "Social, collaboration, and communication tools give your employees the power to get work done anywhere, on any device. Instant messaging tools can connect colleagues for immediate answers, while sharing documents lets workers collaborate in real time on projects. Giving employees a place to voice seemingly crazy ideas can, in the end, help your business capitalize on new opportunities and deliver better customer experiences. As long as you have policies in place for internal and external social media, your organization can expect the same high level of work, while raising the bar for innovation. And remember: Implementing social solutions doesn't have to be complicated. You can seamlessly weave too"

Seth Kahan on CEO peer groups--way to control risk-taking with small group of co-learners 3. CEO Peer Groups form in DC & Chicago - Chicago has One Opening I have been leading CEO Peer Groups since 2009. They are an opportunity to take a year long journey together with 3-4 other CEOs under my facilitation. These special groups are made up of 4-5 leaders who work together to develop leadership performance, improve their results, and dive deep into both strategy and tactics. It is a safe place to expose vulnerabilities and get powerful assistance for the most challenging situations. Ultimately it is about raising the bar on your leadership performance through a community of peers."

Digest of ideas by Gwen Teatro, You Are Not the Boss of Me, reprinted 9/7/14, originally written in 2010. Very interesting look at the Fifty Discipline by Peter Senge. "There was a time when everyone was jumping onto The Learning Organization bandwagon. This usually happened when times were good, when organizations felt a little more ebullient...Budgets were cut....wisdom and decisions would only come from the few and learning for the many was a luxury no one could afford." Learning Organization components 1. Vision--shared--may start with one person, it must be embraced and shared by all. Can be simple, i.e., Zappo's Delivering Happiness 2. Team learning--in an age where shared leadership is or will become critical, the need to understand the dynamics and functional operation of teams is pretty great--how team members communicate with each other, how they manage conflict, and how they examine their successes...and their failures 3. Personal Mastery--taking the time to study and understand our reality and our purpose 4. Mental models--dangers of clinging to and operating from narrow perspectives--assumptions and biases in our thinking 5. Systems thinking--paying attention to the connections between and among a variety of elements that make up the whole.

Jacob Morgan has outlined in this Forbes article from 11/11/14 the 7 Principles of the Future Employee. These are the 7 core ways that future employees will work. The 7 are: Flexible work environment; Can customize work; Shares information; Uses new ways to communicate and collaborate; Can become a leader; Shifts from knowledge worker to learning working; Learns and teaches at will.

interesting survey results on benefits valued by members of scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly communities. Top two benefits were peer reviewed journal and continuing education for members and nonmembers.

blog by Martin Davies for Wiley.com on value of eLearning programs for professional membership groups

from Business Insider, March 3, 2015 by Drake Baer. Baer quotes the biographer of Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson, as having a conversation with Jobs about "follow your passion". Jobs thought that following your passion was on a higher context - giving back to society and the community - than a lower context - individualistic, career-focused. To Jobs, following your passion had to include making society better. Baer uses the stat " there are 1,300 business books about "passion" on Amazon.

Amazing TED talk by an Italian artist who created a global community to help him cure his brain cancer. He created a web site, La Cura (the cure) and posted his brain scans online, inviting anyone to help him heal as a whole person. His site went viral and he received over 500,000 contacts. Through his site, he formed his team of neurosurgeons, oncologists, and several thousand people who were there for his cure as a person, not just for his cancer. He offers his open source model as one for anyone to do, for as he says, it is not just healing for himself, but healing for all of us that matters.

Has some good ideas (even if they are for academics being reviewed by vitae committees) for curating your online presence, Karen Kelsky, Chronicle HE,

Very nice blog post by clmooc on how to use Twitter, Google+ community, and Google Hangouts with Mashable guide/video links on how to do each. Great for DIY online learners.

from the World Education newsletter. Andy Nash describes the Technology Integration Project (TIP), a six-month PD initiative designed to prepare adult educators to understand, choose, and effectively incorporate technology into instruction. Based on the online World Ed course, Integrating Technology into the Adult Education Classroom, with additional support from a coach and an online learning community.