I was an engineering major at San Jose State when I first saw a Macintosh computer. At the time, I was enrolled in a FORTRAN computer programming class that required middle-of-the-night trips to the computer lab to catch an open punch-card machine, then standing in line to hand over my rubber-banded stack of cards to a “computer operator.” The DEC computer filled half the sterile room, with a loud droning hum and intermittent card-shuffling sounds. Seriously? Punching in lines of code at 2 am and waiting 20 minutes to find out if I was right or wrong?

It was clear I chose the wrong major.

And then the Macintosh came to Spartan Bookstore. It was putty-colored magic and I wanted it more than anything, but it was far more expensive than I could afford. At our annual New Year’s Day family gathering, I was talking about this newfangled personal computer to my mother and grandmother. My mother rolled her eyes to let me know once again it was out of the question, but my grandmother heard my passion and went to get her checkbook.

She said, “I can give you money after I die or I can give some to you now when you really need it. Take this and go buy your computer.” I nearly cried. I was an early adopter.

Over the years I’ve owned every major model of the Mac: the luggable models, the jewel-toned space pods, the orange clam-shell laptop, the white desk-lamp model, all the way up to my trusty MacBook Air and iPad today.

The simplicity and intuitiveness sparked creativity in ways I never dreamed, including starting my own Mac-only business. I vowed I would NEVER, EVER have to use a Windows PC again and then I made it so at High Tech Connect.

In fact, several years ago I did buy a Dell laptop with Windows. It lasted four days before I shipped it back. It was either that or Child Protective Services would soon take my children for the stream of profanities they were exposed to at home. Not pretty.

Even my husband, a security sales expert for Cisco Systems, has been converted. He’s quite protective about his tools of the trade: MacBook Pro, iPad and iPhone. My children have all been forced to use Apple products by their mother, as well.

So when Steve Jobs died, I felt a gaping hole in my heart. This man had me giddy for every press conference, like an impatient kid on Christmas, in awe of his showmanship and breathtaking surprises. I suppose this is what it felt like for my parents when John Lennon died. It was far too soon for this much brilliance to flicker out.

Rest in peace, Steve. I am incredibly grateful to you and my grandma, for bringing joy, creativity and independence to my life and my company.

I’ll share advice with students on how to create a stellar career, truly rise above peers in their profession and get employers to go “gaga” over them.

Perhaps most importantly, I’m offering all attendees of my session a FREE mentor match. I’ll introduce them to a seasoned professional with whom they have common interests and can build a long-term collaborative relationship.

Read more in the press release below.

SJSU Student Organization Conference Release

Working with some of the nation’s top marketing communications professionals, you might think I receive a constant stream of well crafted, even artful follow up correspondence. Or maybe just thank you notes that are spelled correctly.

If only it were true.

It’s truly scary how many notes I receive with typos and grammatical mistakes from professionals in a line of work where perfect copy should be table stakes. This doesn’t build my confidence in them and probably gets in the way of me connecting them with one of my clients. But, what about that thank you note I just mentioned?

My son is a freshman at USC and one of his fraternity brothers is interested in a marketing career, so — like mother, like son — my son introduced him to me. I looked at his resume, gave him some tips and then introduced him to someone I know who’s experienced in sports marketing, the area of marketing he wants to pursue. In return, I received a lovely voicemail message and a five paragraph thank you note that covered…

1. The thank you
2. How he wants to stay in touch with me
3. A reminder of his amazing experience and qualifications
4. Appreciation for the introduction I made for him
5. A compliment about my son, the quickest way to a mother’s heart

I’m sure I’ll hear from this young man again and when I do, I’ll remember how he’s smart — and savvy — and I’ll be happy to give him a hand.

Do not underestimate the power of a well-crafted thank you.

Business at High Tech Connect is up, up, up and, apparently, we aren’t the only one. Online freelance marketplace Elance just released its Q4 2010 highlights and is reporting both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter growth — during a quarter that is normally slow.

For the fourth calendar quarter of 2010, Elance reports employers spent $27M through its service for freelance work. Compared to the previous year, that’s a 44% increase.

As if that isn’t impressive enough, here’s the kicker: Growth from Q3 to the normally slower Q4 was 11%. Let’s be sure we see that: During Q4, normally the slowest quarter of the year, the spend on freelancers through Elance grew 11% compared to Q3.  Thanksgiving? Christmas? Bah, Humbug! Perhaps Dickens’ Christmas Carol gets turned upside down this year and the best gift we could get is the chance to work.

At High Tech Connect our consultant placement business is booming — so much so I had to cancel my planned Week Off this week. (It’s far more fun to make magic for my clients than tackle neglected closets and household repairs.)

Really? They’re just figuring this out now?

For the past 14 years, High Tech Connect has carefully built a network of what we call GEMS, our Go-to Expert Marketing Superheroes. These are the best in our business: seasoned marketing, communications, PR and writing pros who already have successful careers in the technology industry. Some are former trade journalists, industry analysts, C-level executives or agency owners. Many have been former High Tech Connect clients one year, only to be placed by us as a consultant with another client the next, or vice versa.

All our GEMS are already busy with clients or a job, but you never know when the right permanent full-time job comes along—or someone’s personal situation changes and employment provides the benefits and stability they need. These are the professionals High Tech Connect presents as candidates. Some may be in between consulting gigs, and a few may be unemployed, but all of them have successful careers and a stellar reputation.

We may leverage our GEMS to find other gems, but you will never see High Tech Connect post jobs or consulting gigs to an online job board. Quality over quantity. Only the best for our clients.

In our mind, it’s still about Who You Know, not just To Whom it May Concern.

Tell us what you think. Are we crazy?

Richard Branson needs no introduction.  The founder of Virgin Records, Air, Cellphones, Everything — Branson is a successful entrepreneur by any measure so, when he has some advice, I’ll listen.  In a recent article on American Express’ Open Forum site, Branson shared his experience about time management, taking time off from work and success.

The challenge of making time for one’s family is equally tough and closely linked to the need to let go. To many just starting out in business, the difficulty of simply surviving can make striking a balance between work and family seem impossible, but spending time away from work is important to helping you maintain perspective on the challenges you face, and thus to the future of your company.

I employ two solutions to help achieve a balance, though they may not be possible for many people. Ever since I first moved into the houseboat, I have always tried to work from home in order to stay close to my family. When our family became too big for the houseboat, we moved to a house in Holland Park in London, and we now live on Necker Island, in the British Virgin Islands.

Second, I took my family on business trips, especially when the children were younger. This meant that we did not spend too much time apart and I would often see them when the children wandered through meetings — a welcome distraction from the worries of the business world. It is amazing how the bright smile or questions of a child can help relieve even the most stressful situation.

I’m not entirely sure about taking my family on a business trip, but we shouldn’t argue too hard against success. I think the warm breezes and shrimp ceviche of Cabo San Lucas are calling me right now.

Here’s a link to the entire article.  Let me know what you think!

Adam Vincenzini, the senior communications consultant at Paratus Communications in London, has written a great post about the lessons Don Draper can teach us about social networking.  Here’s a great sample:

You are the product

People don’t buy things, they buy feelings. Feelings come from people. Therefore (drum roll) people must be at the centre of your social media marketing efforts. [more]

It’s a fun post and I learned a couple of things too.  So take a read and let me know what you think.

Where do you YOUR new ideas come from? Mine are often borne of sleep deprivation or excessive chocolate.

Steven Johnson is someone who makes sense of where we get new ideas. He’s a science writer with a collection of titles that include Interface Culture and Everything Bad is Good for You.  (That’s where I found out why it was really important to watch American Idol.)  It looks like Johnson is hitting it out of the park again with new title, Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation. His new book is due to be published October 5, but right now there’s a new video on the net that’s going viral.  It’s a cartoon that summarizes Johnson’s idea and made me put in a pre-order for the book.

I’m not the only one who thinks Stephen Johnson is worth paying attention to.  On Saturday, September 25, The Wall Street Journal published an article by Johnson.  Here’s a snippet from the story:

The premise that innovation prospers when ideas can serendipitously connect and recombine with other ideas may seem logical enough, but the strange fact is that a great deal of the past two centuries of legal and folk wisdom about innovation has pursued the exact opposite argument, building walls between ideas. Ironically, those walls have been erected with the explicit aim of encouraging innovation. They go by many names: intellectual property, trade secrets, proprietary technology, top-secret R&D labs. But they share a founding assumption: that in the long run, innovation will increase if you put restrictions on the spread of new ideas, because those restrictions will allow the creators to collect large financial rewards from their inventions. And those rewards will then attract other innovators to follow in their path. [more]

Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think.

Stick To What You Do Best

Clients are paying top dollar for an expert, not someone who requires a learning curve. Consultants should be honest about their strengths and previous experience, including limitations. If you want to broaden your expertise beyond your sweet spot, learn by watching your client’s internal experts (on unbilled time), take courses, or trade services and advice with a fellow professional who’s already mastered that skill set.

Let Your Passion Show

It’s so obvious when you meet someone who truly loves what they do. They aren’t watching the clock or waiting to be asked for the next instruction. Clients love working with consultants who exude confidence and have a zeal for their profession. Consultants who are clearly “in the zone” will endear themselves to any overworked client by helping to anticipate needs and suggest creative yet cost-efficient solutions.

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Over the course of our business, there have only been a handful of times when we needed to swoop in and salvage a project. In almost every case the problem was simply mis-communication, or no communication at all. It is the consultant’s responsibility to over-communicate and provide regular updates in the manner most preferred by the client (email, phone, weekly 1:1, written report). There should be no surprises!

Proactive and Professional

Anticipating the needs of your client is an essential element of successful consulting that requires maturity and sensitivity. And moving-target clients who never have time to meet or non-communicative managers who can’t make decisions require heroic tenacity to keep the project rolling on track. Conversely, when a consultant will be unavailable while volunteering in a classroom or tending to other family needs (which is why consultants become consultants), clients should be notified well in advance of schedule conflicts. The best consultants remain professional all the time, offer great flexibility and accessibility, and limit the personal details.

No Prima Donnas

Contrary to some beliefs, consulting is not about the consultant. It’s not about showing off, whining, back-stabbing, making excuses or generating awe and admiration. It is about taking away the pain for clients and making them look great at all costs. Consultants who put their client’s needs first have long-term fans who happily and promptly pay invoices.

What do YOU think the best consultants do to become indispensable? Post your comments here. Next month, look for our thoughts on What Makes a Great Client?

Having been force-fed the customer service Kool-Aid by McDonald’s at the tender age of 16, I’ve always been fanatical about customer service. I bristle when the drive-thru employees of today hand me my change with a perfunctory, “Here.” And I make my children nuts with the constant reminders to say Please and Thank you, even though (or maybe especially because) they are teenagers.

Here, for your reading convenience, is Peter’s priceless article in its entirety:

What Ever Happened to “Please” and “Thank you?”

Thanks to my assistant being on vacation, I managed to show up at the airport five hours early for my flight this morning. With time to kill, I started walking around, and came across a Wendy’s. Knowing my burger chain trivia, I knew that Wendy’s serves burgers at any time of the day, even at 5:20am.

Ordering a single, as opposed to a triple, out of courtesy to my nutritionist, I waited for my order, and watched the three people after me order. Here’s what was said:

“Gimmie a #2 with a Large Coke.”

“You got any biscuits? Yeah? Gimmie 2.”

“Large coffee, one egg and cheese.”

What’s missing from all three transactions?

Manners.

When did we blatantly lose all our manners? When did we become, essentially, cavemen and women, grunting our requests and not even recognizing the efforts of those who grant them? It’s a sad, sad day for manners.

As I look around the airport, I see it everywhere – At gate D2, there’s a mad rush to get on the plane, as if you miss the first five minute boarding window, you won’t ever board again. And we know what causes this – The rush for overhead space, with every idiot bringing on as much as they possibly can in a carry-on that’s too big to begin with.

The person standing dead-center-middle of the moving sidewalk, so no one can pass him on either side. Perhaps we just didn’t know it was his moving sidewalk, not everyone’s.

The funny thing is, society’s lack of manners can actually benefit those who still have them in countless ways. I’ve gotten more flight upgrades than I can count, simply by being the really nice guy on line behind the douchebag. When he leaves, I greet the agent with a knowing “sorry you had to deal with that” smile, say “please” and “thank you,” and boom, I’m in seat 1A.

I was exiting an elevator yesterday, and allowed the woman next to me to exit first. As she walked out and said “thank you,” I said, “you’re welcome, Marianne.” I had looked at her name tag as she was exiting.

She came up to me at the end of my speech and said “You know, I just have to tell you, you’re the first person to call my by my actual name all day! That was so thoughtful!”

Why do we wear name tags at conferences if we don’t plan on calling people by their names?

People blame our lack of manners on our “rushed” society, where we’re constantly looking down at our Blackberries and iPhones, and not communicating. When it comes down to it, though, I think we’ve just stopped caring. And that’s kinda sad.

We’ve turned into an “I’ll get mine,” society, where we only seem to care about ourselves. And strictly speaking from a business perspective, is a guaranteed way to go bankrupt. It’s common knowledge that acting different than everyone else is a good way to get noticed. So here’s my challenge to you:

Go out of your way today to use good manners to a customer or client, someone serving you, and a friend. Watch the reaction. Then do it again tomorrow. Try it for a week or two. You’ll be amazed. You’ll see differences in your business, as well.

Sometimes, it really is the simplest of things, you know?

Thanks for reading.