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Archive for November, 2005

Bernal Heights View

The view of San Francisco from the Bernal Heights hill on a November weekend morning.

ACG Event: Journey to an IPO

ACG Boston is hosting an early morning discussion on taking a Journey to an IPO, on November 17 at the Boston Harbor Hotel, starting at 7:15 am. Co-founder and CEO of Unica’s Yuchun Lee will be the main speaker. They recently completed an IPO in August of 2005. Topic points will include:
Why chose a private equity partner
Signs of when a company is ready to go public
The impact of Sarbanes Oxley on management during the process
The decision to delay the IPO and why

Union Square Aggression

I was warned that begging for money was prevalent in San Francisco but I never expected it to be so invasive. I tend to avoid Union Square and frankly, have only been there twice since I moved here — and never at night, until recently. I couldn’t walk two blocks without people aggressively asking for money. By the time I reached my car, we had encountered close to ten people, who wouldn’t move out of our path until we gave in or darted for cover – my car. And when we didn’t oblige 9 out of the 10 cases, they simply did not go away. Intense. I’ve lived in a lot of places, but never quite experienced this level of aggression among the homeless.

Forrester: Managing Workforce Change

Forrester Research is holding a press event tomorrow in Boston that will address Businesses At Risk: Managing The Changing Workforce, starting at 1:00 pm at the Westin Copley Place on Huntington Avenue. THE WHAT
Businesses are at risk at both ends of the workforce spectrum. The US could face labor and skills shortages of crisis proportions as 76 million baby boomers retire throughout the next two decades, leaving prospective and unfilled positions in all industries. The incoming workforce will not only expect technology to help make up for a lack of skills and experience, but also rely on it personally and professionally. According to Forrester, many business are in denial about and unprepared to manage the extremes of the changing workforce. Panelists include:
· Connie Moore, Vice President, Research Director, Forrester Research · Cynthia Heckmann, Deputy CIO, Government Accountability Office (GAO) · Lisa Tondreau, Partner, Human Capital Management Americas Leader, IBM Business Consulting Services · John F. Rockart, Senior Lecturer Emeritus, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Academic Vice President of the Society for Information Systems Topics of discussion include:
· How the public sector and IT industry are dealing with the double whammy…

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TechCitizenship Event in Boston

Mass High Tech is presenting the upcoming 2005 TechCitizenship Event in Boston at the Museum of Science on Friday, November 18 from 7:30-9:30 am. CEOs will talk about how corporate giving builds morale, encourages employee retention and bolsters the bottom line. Those on this year’s list include: Arch Chemicals Inc.
Atlantic Associates
Biogen Idec
Boston Scientific
Cisco Systems
Genzyme Corp.
GTECH Corp.
Hit Catcher Inc.
IBM Corp.
iCorps Technologies Inc.
InterNoded Inc.
Keane Inc.
Mercury Computer Systems Inc.
Millipore Corp.
New Tilt Inc.
PTC
MathWorks Inc.

On American Indian Languages

I went through an interesting exercise recently……exploring rare languages, the status on them, interest level and of the ones left that I am consciously aware of, what is their potential lifespan? I grew up in upstate New York (Richard Russo territory) and have always been fascinated by the heritage of the Mohawk Indians and the Iroquoian culture and language. I never knew about Mingo however, which is an Iroquoian language native to the areas of western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and West Virginia. Like so many like it, Mingo is a seriously endangered language, with very few native speakers remaining.
Source: Mingolanguage.org Check out this interesting chart (its a tad out of date), but it is a fascinating list of percentages of the population that speak American Indian languages in their homes. Cherokee has many dialects for example and one of them alone (Tsalagi, an Iriquois language) claims 22,000 speakers. While learning a language with a large number of speakers (Spanish, Chinese) becomes a smart career decision as we choose language classes in schools (most Americans skip the choice rather than embrace…

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