The Chamber

It’s time for another post on how great the world wide web is. We’ve recently looked at how social networks can benefit business and a list of 80 sites to hack your life. So today, it’s a look at the sites where you can go to learn to do, well, just about anything.

Over on the Dumb Little Man blog, they’ve posted a list of 15 sites that can teach you to anything from learning to build your own website to looking after a sick cat. Some of them you may have heard of, some you won’t, and some may be a surprise.

The full list of 15 sites can be seen here, but it includes:

• YouTube - yep, it’s not all dancing stormtroopers. Need to learn how to tune a guitar, build a blog or bake a nice cake? Chances are someone’s posted an instructional vid on YouTube.
• How Stuff Works - with sections covering cars, pets, computers, business, food, money and more, find out how things tick here.
• wikiHow - user generated content on a host of topics
• Wired’s How To Wiki - Wired is the techy’s mag of choice, and its how to site covers technical matters such as gadgets, technology and computers. Geek out here.
• W3Schools - become a web developer by using these free tutorials from the people who help set web standards
• VideoJug - probably the largest and most comprehensive online video tutorial site, covering a mind-bogglingly broad selection of subjects.

Read the full list on Dumb Little Man here.

We all have to do it from time to time. That’s right, fire up the old PowerPoint and give a presentation. Nobody likes it, but like death, taxes and the office Christmas do, it comes to us all.

But fear not. Over on Lifehack we’ve come across a nice little article that gives four handy tips to help you get going. It’s a nice short article, but might just come in handy.

The tips, explained in more detail in the article are:

• Set the stage
• Force a pause
• Don’t do all the talking
• Ice-breakers

Become a presentation professional here.

We love the internet here at Liverpool Chamber. You can learn to do just about anything at the click of a mouse. So this post over at the Lifehack website really floated our boat.

Eighty How-To Sites Worth Bookmarking does exactly what it says on the tin. It lists 80 great sites that provide tips and tricks on how to improve just about every part of your life:

• Business - tips on becoming more productive, working as a freelancer, creating business plans and more
• Technology - how to make sure you have the best hardware and software available, and how to get the most out of what you’ve got
• Home hacks - from DIY to installing home theatre equipment, tips on making your home a better place
• Cookery - we all eat, so why not have some fun doing it?
• Crafts - want to lean something creative to do in your downtime? Lots of sites here
• Money - how to save it, manage it and spend less of it

Not all of these sites will be for you, and some are US-focussed. But with 80 to choose from you’re bound to find something you like!

Read the full article on Lifehack here.

New Liverpool Chamber member Mark Jones, who many know from Liverpool’s Radio City, hosts hundreds of prestigious events throughout the UK. He fronts awards dinners, conferences and sportsmen’s dinners.

He’s often heard at Goodison Park as Everton’s Matchday announcer! And has years of experience as a broadcasting presenter in a range of media. Plus he’s worked all around the world… even North Wales. He’s a Director of Altitude Productions Limited, a company that supplies quality PA hire for these events. So when it comes to events and their organisation, he knows -from experience - what he’s talking about.

Here are Mark’s top 10 tips for ensuring a successful event:

1) Large venues usually have an expert planning team to give you dedicated support for your event. Use their expertise; this will help get the best out of your event.

2) To make the best of catering, furniture, lighting and any technical equipment, think about what you’ll need -and write everything down- well in advance as many production companies are booked many months ahead.

3) Visit the venue to familiarise yourself with all its facilities, such as the number and location of the toilets, loading bays, car parking, taxis, nearest station/airport.

4) ALWAYS use an event management/production company that you’ve used before (or have been to a successful event that they’ve work on) to ensure you create the right atmosphere for your event by using the right lighting, music and floral decorations. For example, if you have an event for Liverpool fans, blue napkins might not be appreciated.

5) Keep your themes simple to create the maximum effect for your event.

6) Provide all your customers / delegates with comprehensive directions to get to the venue itself and ensure these are sent out well in advance, include the venue’s postcode for SatNav users.

7) Use clear signage around the venue to guide everyone to the correct areas and create a professional presence for your event; this will make it an easier “sell” to clients returning next year.

Check -and then double check- dietary requirements. You won’t believe how upset people can be -they’ll then look elsewhere with their business- if you’re perceived to not care enough to look after them properly.

9) Thoroughly check out whom you’re using as Master of Ceremonies before you book him or her. For example, most of us that make a living from this have a good, clear website, with a showreel so you can get a flavour of our style. Remember, a good, professional, experienced MC can make or break, and can often save, an event.

10) Ensure everyone attending can see the stage clearly and everyone can hear every word clearly. If they can’t, they’ll start talking and then others can’t hear and are distracted. It’s not what you want to hear after all the hard work you’ve put in.

Mark Jones
Master of Ceremonies / Event Host.
www.MarkJonesShow.co.uk
Telephone: 07831 - 529729.

Here’s a couple of useful (we hope) posts from the depths of the web we’ve found today.

First up, over on Ask Metafilter, someone’s asking for suggestions on what to include in an article on improving computer productivity. Answers include switching to Firefox, learning some keyboard shortcuts, backing up documents, using anti-virus software and switching to Firefox. Read the full post here and become a computer whiz.

And over on Linda Stone’s website (no, I’d not heard of her before today either), are some top tips on time management. These common sense ideas include lists of realistic expectations and tasks, blocking off time for tasks and being clear about where and when you will work. You can see her full article here.

Looking for a new job? Got an interview lined up soon? Well the BBC has an article looking at some sticky situations you may find yourself in at an interview. Inspired by their TV show ‘The Apprentice’, it offers advice on what to do if you find yourself in the interview from hell (and let’s face it, we’ve all experienced that at one time).

The list covers:

• not lying
• staying calm
• expecting the unexpected
• being prepared
• body language.

Read the full article here and feel free to share your nightmare interview experiences in the comments.

Writing an attractive and useful CV can be hard. No-one likes to condense their life to two sides of A4 in the pursuit of career advancement. But let’s hope none of us have committed any of the blunders found on this list over at the Jobmob website.

The list is nice and long, but here’s a few to get you in the mood:

• Hobbies: “enjoy cooking Chinese and Italians”
• Candidate included naked picture of himself.
• Other Interests: “Playing with my two dogs (They actually belong to my wife but I love the dogs more than my wife)”.
• Why Interested in Position: “to keep my parole officer from putting back me in jail”
• A woman had attached a picture of herself in a mini mouse costume
• Hobbies: “Drugs and girls”.
• Hobbies: “Having a good time”
• “Able to say the ABCs backward in under five seconds.”
• “I have an excellent track record, although I am not a horse.”

Read the full list here. Oh, and they call a CV a ‘resume’, but that’s because they’re probably American examples.

Everybody loves a good list. And everybody wants to know the secrets of success. So, here’s a nice article taken from the Lifehack website that combines both of these things.

Fifty Habits of Highly Successful people takes “the important lessons from every self-help book I’ve read and every life experience I’ve endured, condenses all that into fifty key points and save everybody a whole bunch of reading time.”

You can read the full list over on the Lifehack website, or click ‘more’ to stay right here and read the list anyway…

1. They look for and find opportunities where others see nothing.

2. They find a lesson while others only see a problem.

3. They are solution focused.

4. They consciously and methodically create their own success, while others hope success will find them.

5. They are fearful like everyone else, but they are not controlled or limited by fear.

(more…)

Isn’t it wonderful when someone sends you a letter electronically? You know those “PDF” thingymawhatsits?

The person who sent it must be some sort of IT guru. It must take ages to produce that surely? Wrong. It takes about 12 seconds to produce one.

So now you can send your letters, invoices, statements by email if you wanted to. And you don’t need to buy any software. You just have to spend 5-10 minutes setting up your PC.

Click here to get the quick and easy step-by-step guide to turning your Word documents into pdf’s - with pictures too!

The pilot slurs to you “I fly better when I’m drunk” as he passes your seat, staggering into the cockpit before take-off. You’d do something about that right?

But what if you couldn’t tell if he was drunk? The same lack of understanding threatens every small business.

“Myths About IT” is a series of articles written in plain English. They are ideal for any small business owner who is concerned about their business, but wants to know fast whether they have a problem.

The first in the series will give you exactly the information you need to tell if your business is safe from an IT disaster. Within a few minutes you will know.

More importantly, it gives you a series of questions you can ask of either your in-house IT expert, or the company who looks after your IT. If they pass the test, you can sleep at night!

Get the full article on the Multilsolutions website here