North Coast Media, LLC

5 things to do at work before 2016

By Bethany Chambers | Digital Operations Manager

It’s mid-December, and your workdays before the end of the year may be counted on one hand. With all the balls you’re juggling for the holidays, like the stings of lights that already burnt out and the hard-to-find gift for your pickiest loved one, something’s got to give.

And that something is usually work productivity.

It’s a common scenario in every workplace in America this time of year, and it’s at odds with the stark reality that many businesses count on end-of-year sales and new-year planning for success. If ever there were a time for efficiency, now would be it. In what days you have left in the office before you take off, set yourself up for a fresh beginning in 2016 by taking these simple steps.

1. Clean up that desktop clutter.

Whether you’re a tchotchke collector or a paper-piler (or in my unfortunate case, both) go ahead now and rid yourself of all the things you don’t use or don’t need. If you haven’t even shuffled through that stack of papers in the corner of your desk in 2015, throw it away. You won’t miss it. If you consider this an unconventional filing system, invest in some colored folders and start organizing it into an actual filing system. Now you have room for tasteful decor…and all of the papers to come.

2. Now, clean up that virtual desktop.

Your computer crashes a lot; things seem to be running slow. Before you blame IT, take a moment to ask yourself: Could I be the cause of this technological meltdown? Chances are the answer is “yes.” Are there so many files on your desktop that you don’t remember what your wallpaper is? The first step to a happier computer (and therefore a happier you) is to delete old and unused files, and put everything else in files that make sense. I personally keep everything in two folders – “To Do” and “Done.” Simple as that.

3. Back up your devices.

Save yourself the heart-stopping disaster that is returning from a long relaxing holiday to find that your computer won’t start, and all of your files are lost. If your company doesn’t have a protocol for automatic backups, make sure you take the time to do it yourself on the server, an external hard drive or USB drive (which is a good idea if you might end up doing some work on days off anyways).

Same goes for backing up your smartphone and tablet (and your work smartphone and tablet, if you’re a multiple device-carrier).

Think of the shame of losing all those selfies. Oh yeah, and the important stuff. One caveat: Make sure company policy doesn’t prohibit you from copying files or taking documents home.

4. Get your schedule together.

Being out of the office for a week or more can lead to that disorienting experience where you return and wonder: What was I supposed to do next? A lot of people make a New Year’s resolution to get organized or be better at time management. At work that means choosing a calendar app for your computer, phone or both that you’ll stick with and scheduling recurring annual projects, January to-do’s and weekly meetings before the ball drops. I’m a fan of the standard Google calendar, where I can label and share events with different work teams and sync my phone and computer, but there are lots of other calendar options out there for Android, Apple, Mac and PC.

5. Start mapping your grand plans.

You have the momentum, now, during the most festive time of the year; don’t lose it! Mind-mapping is a fun and visual way to brainstorm and plan for all those 2016 goals. For content producers, it’s a way to storyboard a long feature. For salespeople, create maps of how your contacts are connected or where prospects fit into the picture. No matter the project, it helps to organize your thoughts. Again there a lot of mind-mapping apps out there (I like Scrapple) or you could use an organization tool like Trello, which is current go-to for obsessively creating to-do lists and boards of ideas.

Professional land surveyor writes GPS-focused column in free e-newsletter

CLEVELAND – November 30, 2015 – GPS World magazine announces that professional land surveyor Tim Burch has become a regular contributor to the Survey Scene monthly e-mail newsletter. Survey Scene is available free to members of the surveying community. It covers a range of topics involving the use of GPS in survey, construction, mapping, and allied fields.

Burch’s first column for the newsletter was “Challenges for Small-Town Surveying,” and he plans future columns on topics such as surveyors’ roles in precision agriculture, updating monitoring methods to static and RTK GPS, reconnaissance and recovery of USCGS/USGS/NGS benchmarks, and legislation governing surveyors’ use of UAVs (drones).

With 30 years of professional land surveyor experience, Burch is now Survey Department Manager at Chastain & Associates in Decatur. Illinois. He also serves as Secretary, Board of Directors, National Society of Professional Surveyors.

Burch joins David Zilkoski as co-contributing editor of the Survey Scene e-newsletter. Zilkoski is in the midst of a five-part instructional series in the newsletter on “Establishing Orthometric Heights Using GPS.” Zilkoski is CEO of Geospatial Solutions by DBZ in Salisbury, North Carolina. He retired from his position as director of the National Geodetic Survey with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where he worked for many years.

The Survey Scene e-newsletter appears on the first Wednesday of each month. It provides the latest news and views for surveyors and mappers using GPS and other satellite positioning systems. It has a circulation of 14,000+ from across the U.S. and around the world. Subscription is free, available at www.gpsworld.com/subscribe.

Burch and Zilkoski also collaborated on an opinion poll, “What is the biggest challenge facing surveyors using GPS/GNSS in the field?” Results were published in the December issue of GPS World magazine and in the December Survey Scene e-newsletter.

The first cut is the deepest: A perspective on starting a journalism career

By Grant B. Gannon | Associate Editor, Golfdom

The end of November marked my first anniversary as a full-time journalist. I have been told by veteran reporters that I will not learn more than I did during that first year. To summarize all that I gained during this year into one blog post would be impossible. So I’ll stick to some of the highlights.

Finding a job

My journey as a professional journalist didn’t start with my employment at North Coast Media but when I sent my first applications and cover letters for jobs back in the spring of 2013.

Journalism jobs are not easy to get, and I had to start with jobs that I didn’t see myself doing forever but were great experience, including working as the stats guy for a newspaper sports department and taking temp jobs. Nothing will make you appreciate your degree more than when you can leave behind temp agency work for the comfort of a full-time career with your own desk.

It was more than 18 months after I graduated before I started my current position. That time forced me to learn the value of patience.

You have to really love the work to stay in journalism, and one of the biggest tests was finding my current job.

Fieldwork and travel

I have been very lucky this year to travel eight times to cover events and meet our readers. Those opportunities to get away from my desk have been the best learning experiences as a journalist — and where I’ve learned the most about the industry.

The biggest thing I have taken away from the events is that you need to have a camera or phone ready at all times. You don’t know when the perfect person or situation will come along for a linchpin interview or great photo.

When it comes to traveling, if you are going to fly more than four times a year (for personal or business) you should invest in TSA Precheck. It costs $85 dollars and lasts for five years – but the amount of time and stress it saves cannot be assigned a value. TSA Precheck members don’t have to take off shoes, belts or light jackets or remove laptops from bags to pass through security.

I am the type of person who gets anxious while waiting in the security line, and TSA Precheck solves that issue for me. I recently traveled to Orlando, Florida, and before my return flight I passed through security in less than five minutes. That’s what I call fast.

What they didn’t tell you in school…

Free stuff is a gray area. During journalism school you probably had an ethics class that taught you it wasn’t OK to accept meals and gifts. I remember applying that lesson while still in school when I received two T-shirts, which retailed for less than $50, while covering an event. I was applauded by one of my teachers in class for returning the shirts.

Fast forward to an event I attended this year where journalists were provided meals, drinks and a “swag” bag that included, conservatively, $100 worth of merchandise and electronics. I did not register soon enough to receive that bag, but other media members readily accepted. In the professional world, turning a blind eye to free stuff is the norm. Whether you agree with that or not, there is no journalism jail for taking free swag bags; you have to make that call for yourself and it may not be so black-and-white as it was in ethics class.

AP Style changes. If you follow AP Style religiously you know major changes have been made recently. That doesn’t mean you will be following them in a new job.

Individual publications have rules that you will have to memorize. For example, Golfdom has not adjusted to the new rule that all U.S. states should be spelled out.

Mistakes happen. Finally, first-year journalists are going to make mistakes, maybe even a big mistake. This fact has been hard for me to come to terms with.

Throughout school you may have been able to avoid running a dreaded correction, but it will probably happen in your first year as a professional journalist.

The best advice I can give is to move on and learn from the mistake. It’s not the mistakes that will define your success, it’s how you handle and rebound from the mistakes.

Although I may not learn as much in my second year as I did in my first, I will be constantly evolving as I continue my career. The skill I want to improve on the most is time management, so I’m better able to juggle everything that comes with this crazy career that is journalism. That, I suppose, is a blog for next year.

Monday Night finish epitomizes Cleveland Browns football

By Kevin Yanik | Managing Editor, LP Gas/Pit & Quarry

Only the Cleveland Browns can line up for a game-winning play and find a way to lose on the very same play.

That’s how this week’s Monday Night Football matchup between the Browns and Baltimore Ravens went down on the lakefront. The Browns lined up for a game-winning 51-yard field goal attempt with a few seconds to spare. In Browns fashion, the kick was blocked and scooped up by a Ravens player, who improbably scampered along the sideline and into the end zone.

In a flash, a potential victory that would have satisfied the masses during one of the most disastrous Browns seasons in recent memory turned into yet another logic-defying loss — the kind that only happens in Cleveland.

The football mess in Cleveland has piled up considerably over the last 17 years, ever since the NFL rushed the Browns back to Cleveland following the franchise’s 1995 move to Baltimore.

There were times since 1999 when the city was simply happy to have a football team back in Cleveland. The fans wouldn’t have cared during those years if the Browns never won a game. Having a football team wear the brown and orange again was enough.

Over the course of this new Browns era, though, satisfaction has given way to years of frustration and despair. The football debacle in Cleveland has been going on for nearly two decades — more than half my lifetime — and the escape from the losing is nowhere in sight.

Comments from a couple of my North Coast Media colleagues about Monday night’s loss illustrate how low morale has gotten in Cleveland over the Browns.

“Sitting at [First Energy] Stadium last night and watching the blocked field goal and the return for a touchdown was unreal,” says one colleague. “I just sat there and laughed. It appeared as I watched all of the fans leaving the stadium that they now totally expect something like this to happen. I saw more people laughing and shaking their heads as opposed to being upset. We are so jaded now.”

Adds another North Coast Media colleague about the latest loss: “I was shaking my head as we lined up to kick a field goal. I thought: ‘We’re going to blow the first pick of the draft to win this completely meaningless game.’ I was clapping when the Ravens blocked it and scored.”

Fandom would be more tolerable if the Browns would simply field a respectable football team and lose with grace. Instead, the team regularly makes headlines for non-football reasons and plays in losses that defy football logic.

Like my one colleague, a number of Browns fans are eyeing the top pick in next year’s draft as the turning point to steer this franchise right. But this is Cleveland, and by year’s end the Browns will likely find a way to not be the best at being the worst.

Top 10 social media guidelines every company needs

By Diane Sofranec | Managing Editor, Pest Management Professional

If your company has a presence on social media, guidelines for what your employees post will help reduce the likelihood a legal or public relations nightmare will occur.

Even if you’re not the owner of a restaurant chain that has its share of workers behaving badly, having a plan in place will ensure employees know what is and is not acceptable behavior when using such sites as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Your social media guidelines should spell out how you expect your employees to behave. Consider providing solid examples that illustrate what you mean. Here are 10 points every company should address:

1. Social media goals.

Establish a reason for your company’s presence on social media. Do you want to spread the word about your products or services, engage with customers and potential customers, or obtain customer feedback? A goal will help you determine how you want your employees to represent your company.

2. Social media mavens.

Decide whether you want one person from your company to post on all social media platforms, or several to split this task. Consider appointing a responsible and trusted employee who knows the company’s brand well and can intelligently convey it’s messaging.

3. Spokesperson in times of crisis.

Appoint an employee to be the sole spokesperson in the event of any crisis that affects your company. Make it clear to employees that they are not to comment during this time; the idea is to reduce the likelihood of conflicting or incorrect information.

4. Acceptable content.

Think about the information you want to keep confidential. Many companies do not reveal financial figures, client lists and impending promotions. Let your employees know what is and isn’t fair game.

5. Unacceptable content.

When crafting your guidelines, be as specific as possible. You may think it’s unnecessary to explain the meaning of unacceptable, but trust me, it’s best to provide clear examples. Obscene language, discussions of politics and religion, and racist or sexist remarks are just a few bad behaviors.

6. Professional presence.

Although social media is meant to be informal, remind employees they are representing your company. Correct spelling and proper grammar are a must.

7. Think before you post.

Stress the need to maintain your company’s professional reputation. Remember: The content your employees post will remain online forever.

8. Legal issues.

Follow copyright laws and fair use policies regarding content and photos from other sources your employees may post.

9. Identification.

Require employees to be upfront about whom they work for when responding to comments about your company in chat rooms, on message boards and in posts.

10. Ramifications.

What will you do if an employee does not follow your guidelines? Clearly state the consequences and take action if necessary.

There’s no denying the appeal and popularity of social media. So distribute your guidelines to all employees, not just those whose job it is to be the company mouthpiece.

The perfect gift, in 3 easy questions

By Bethany Chambers | Digital Operations Manager

Everyone who knows me will tell you: I love to give gifts.

I like it even more than receiving them, which is really saying something when you consider that I keep a running Christmas wish list year-round, and I know exactly what remains from last year. (Yes, it’s cats. I’m a cat person, to paraphrase a Wal-Mart commercial.)

I’m not the kind of person who can squirrel away gifts for the holidays; that takes years of practice and is a skill that is mastered after you have to supplement Santa gifts (not that Santa needs your help). When I get to that point, I can only imagine I’ll master it as my mom has, with an entire room dedicated to gifts and gift-wrapping (and the ironing board, which no one else uses anyways).

I give gifts year-round—strange gifts, non-gift gifts, perfect gifts. These are little things I pick up because they remind me of someone and they always say more than words. I give them right away, because I have no patience for delaying the gratification of seeing the confused, surprised, concerned and/or impressed look on the recipient’s face.

That said, the holidays are when I look for the ideal gift for everyone on my list. The first thing you need to do is listen and know your target well. Applying tactical skill is the only way to succeed, especially if you’re just now starting.

Start by asking yourself:

What do they need?

This year I had this figured out early for my husband and was patting myself on the back. The road warrior, he needed a new winter coat that was lightweight enough to wear on a plane but warm enough to combat the Minneapolis cold. And then I saw it, at Macy’s on 34th Street no less, for all you Christmas movie fans: the packable puffer coat.

Of course, when I ordered it online with a pile of coupons from my super shopper mom, I should have known he’d open the package and start wearing it right away. Now we’re calling it a birthday gift, and I’m back to square one.

What do they want?

Did they ask you for something specifically? Did they say, “Get me Taylor Swift’s ’89’ on vinyl…standard LP not a 45”? Umm, done. No really.

Now if they aren’t so obvious as to hand you your assignment, you have some room for creativity. Last year, I really outdid myself on this with my coworkers, which led to both confused AND surprised faces. One wanted a hammock. Well, it was a hammock, all right, but it wasn’t people-sized! Another a snowmobile. This one was people-sized…Lego people, that is! Yep, those will live on in infamy. Also, in the corner of their cubicles.

What speaks from your heart?

This is the hardest to fulfill, because it means putting yourself out there in a way. If your family or friends aren’t touchy-feely, this can be challenging, but if Hallmark Christmas movies have taught me anything, it’s that ‘Tis the Season for Love.

With my mom re-entering retirement, she already knows we’ll be spending an afternoon at the spa as her gift, since we don’t get nearly enough time together these days.

Sometimes this comes together in a way that can only be described as kismet (or a Christmas movie plot) and one gift satisfies all of these needs. I’m a firm believer that it’s OK if one gift cannot fit into all these categories. Sometimes a multi-gift is an even better way to combine the serious and the whimsical. Nothing says “You are loved.” like a new pair of shoes…with socks that make it look like your feet are being bitten off by sharks.

Before you complain about breaking the bank on three gifts (while you’re reading this in line at Target), this isn’t as hard on your budget as you’d think, especially because some of these are things you already have or are things you can make.

And before you spend your last dollar this Black Friday, remember: Sometimes the perfect gifts aren’t things at all. A thoughtfully spoken word, a hug or just being there, that may be the perfect gift.