The never boring life of Me- Julie Yack's Blog

To my daughter

Wow, time flies. It’s very cliché, but it really seems like just a few days ago that you were a little girl and now you are a woman and graduating from high school, ready for the next chapter of your life. I am so proud of you, who you are now and who you will become as you continue your journey. I love your caring and compassionate heart, you think of others so often you sometimes forget to think of yourself. You love to learn and that will serve you well your whole life. You are aware of the problems of our world and want to change it. You can and you will make a difference. You are smart and intelligence and know the difference. Here are some lessons I hope you have learned and will take with you.

· You have such a chance to make a difference but you will never know how many people will hear your voice if you don’t speak up.

· We joke that boys are stupid, but we know they are just different. They aren’t ignoring the clutter in the living room, they don’t SEE it. Know when it matters to you and pick your fights accordingly. Dirty socks is not reason enough to break-up with someone.

· Know who your friends are and keep them close. Technology allows us to stay close in our hearts even if separated by geography.

· You can’t have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat and fat-bottomed girls make this rockin’ world go ‘round. Never forget that.

· Measure twice, cut once. This applies to more than just home improvement. Know when decisions and actions cannot be reversed and plan accordingly.

· Be able to talk your way in to or out of whatever is important to you.

· If Fruity Pebbles are good enough for breakfast, they are good enough for dinner.

· Don’t complain just to complain, have a reason and a resolution.

· Don’t whine about politics/government/etc unless you vote.

· Vote.

· Girlfriends and good bottle (or box) of cheap wine is often the only therapy you’ll need.

· Know how to change a tire and change your oil but know that it’s ok to have someone else do it.

· Don’t binge, it’s bad; be it alcohol, food, shopping or emotions.

· Respect yourself more than you respect anyone else in your life, and that includes me.

· Don’t keep score unless you’re playing an actual game. No one wins when you keep score in your relationships.

· Stilettos or lipstick can instantly make you feel better when you’re having a crap day.

· It’s wonderful to be fun, silly and spontaneous. Just be careful what pictures wind up on the internet. That stuff never dies.

· Google yourself a few times a year. See item above.

· Even with an apology words cannot be un-said. There is always some truth behind them. Know this if you are saying the words or hearing them.

· No one is more honest than a drunk, their guard is down, inhibitions gone. It is not an excuse to do anything, poor decisions are still poor decisions. Actions are still accountable.

· Let your doctor tell you if your ass is too big, not society. Healthy comes in many shapes and sizes.

· Know what jeans make your ass look awesome and buy a dozen pairs.

· Listen to your gut. Jobs. Cars. Houses. Marriage.

· Doubt is a powerful thing. Know when it’s nerves and when it’s justified.

· Being feminine is a strength, not a weakness.

· Push the boundaries of your comfort zones. But know where the hard stop is.

· Walk in the rain, dance like no one is watching, do what makes you happy.

I am looking forward to the next phase of our relationship, where I get to be your friend. You are a pretty awesome person. I love you Jack.

Gender pay gap in Dynamics

I was recently interviewed for a story on the gender pay gap for Dynamics professionals.  A recent study by Nigel Frank showed about 11% pay gap for folks in the same role, different gender.  That’s actually not an awful statistic.  It shouldn’t exist at all, but I am far too realistic to think we’ll never have a pay gap of some variety.

I have been on record many times on this subject (maybe that’s why they keep asking me for more quotes ). 

The survey also shows a big gap in the amount of women working in Dynamics roles. It seems that 77% of Dynamics CRM pros are men.  In my experience that is a good thing.  When I’m the only woman in the room at a professional event, I am remembered.  I don’t blend in with a bunch of other stereotypical male geeks.  To me, that’s free advertising.

For the interview we chatted a bit about not only pay gaps and gender make-up in the Dynamics World, but also about work-life balance.  How to be a working parent and so on.  But the story didn’t use what was my best quote on the pay gap.

“Sure you can have it all.  Just not all at the same time”

How to do conference follow-up and do it well, kudos to @crm_integration

Starting off with admitting that I am not always nice to folks soliciting for my business (literally a few minutes ago I had to ask some repeat solicitors to leave my office).  It’s in part because of the utter incompetence of most solicitors and in part my impatience with such things.  Cold calling and cold emailing just don’t sit well with me, if you want my business spend a minute or two of your time so I don’t feel like one in a crowd of many.  Not that hard, I’m pretty easy to find and learn about online.

And it’s for that reason that I am writing this blog post right now.  Like many of you, I recently attended Convergence.  I had my badge scanned many times.  I got lots of emails.  A got a few phone calls.  One email got my attention.

It came from Trevor Poapst at Riva.  They have a product that does email sync with Dynamics CRM.  I don’t currently have a need for such a thing, but Trevor (or someone that gave the info to Trevor?) took the time to learn a little about my company before he emailed me, even referenced a deal we have that’s government and as such is public record.  I responded with a polite no thank you, but hey great email.  He replied back super duper kind and not pushy.  If I ever need such a tool, I will go look at theirs first.

Take a minute to learn a little bit more about the folks you are interacting with, don’t make them feel like they are just a quick sale.

It’s a big big CRM world…where do I fit in?

In the way that Jeff Foxworthy helped us know if we are (or aren’t) rednecks, I’m here to help you decide what role you play on your CRM team.  Why does it matter?  Where to look for help?  Training?  Skills assessments for potential new-hires.  And so on…

With a little help from Leon Tribe and Amy Langlios, here it goes…

 

You might be a Dynamics CRM Power User if…

• your co-workers come to you for help
• you know the difference between marketing, sales and service modules
• you handle product updates with (little or no?) stress
• you know why you should (or shouldn’t) be using the Outlook client
• you have changed your views from the default of 50 to 250
• your favorite CRM folders are an Outlook shortcut or favorite
• you use conditional formatting or the Group By box on CRM data
• You know how to build your detailed advanced find queries (bonus points if you grab the fetchxml and give it to your report writer)
• you make your own views, charts, dashboards and wizard-generated reports
• you know the difference between a workflow and a dialog
• you know what you can extend, even if you’re not the one doing it

You might be a Dynamics CRM administrator if…

• (the entire list above plus)
• you can train others how to do what you do
• you add and manage users, teams, security roles
• you make system views, reports, dashboard, etc
• you know the differences between CTP and O365
• you know the differences between CRM online and on-premises

You might be a Dynamics CRM Customizer (configurer too) if…

• you know which solution to use for your work
• you know CRM architecture and can draw your data-model on a whiteboard
• you know why and when you’d use the default solution, a managed solution and unmanaged solution
• you are adding entities and attributes
• you build custom forms, views, charts, dashboards
• you make reports, using the wizard and/or external reports

You might be a Dynamics CRM developer if…

• you know the reason you’d use managed or unmanaged in your world
• you write plug-ins
• you make custom workflow activities
• you understand the difference between client side and server side programming
• you can create the same query three different way
• you know what a “message” is

There has to be more, but this list should get you started on your quest.

Having it all? If I have it ALL, what is left to strive for?

All of this talk lately of women having it all made me feel compelled to share my thoughts on it.

My first thought is, what is ALL anyway? And if I have it ALL, what is left to strive for?

For me ALL means happy, healthy and safe children. It’s a good marriage to a good man. It’s a career that makes me use my brain every day. It’s not feeling guilty about having time for myself and time to volunteer to help others. All includes having enough money in the bank that I always have groceries but not so much that I get lazy. It’s a bonus to every now and then hear a “thanks”, an “I’m proud of you” and even a “you look nice today”. So, I guess based on this, I do have it ALL.

But for me the key to ALL is a definition that is a moving target.

Today’s happy child is not tomorrow’s happy child. I have to put effort into my role as parent every single day, and my kids are, for all intents and purposes, adults. This is far from a complaint, this parenting part of my life has been great. I am preparing myself for the pending empty nest and mourning the loss of my hands-on time as a parent. My relationship with my kids is evolving, it must continue to grow as they do, and as I grow as a person.

My marriage can only be as good as the effort we each put into it. I cannot stress enough how important it is to be with the right person; the person that will share the work to have it ALL. I couldn’t possibly have it all without an equal partner. Equal in housework (mostly). Equal in parenting. Equally valued for our careers. And there’s the mutual love, respect and passion we have for each other. I am a better partner because I know myself better and expect more of myself, I know it’s ok to have high expectations of him too.

It took me until I was in my 30s before I realized how much I enjoyed engaging my brain every single day. Right now that looks like technology, but if something equally engaging came along I’d look into it. With my youngest kid about to graduate I keep getting asked about retiring. I can’t think about that, what would I possibly do?

You get the idea. What ALL is to me and what ALL is to you would, should, be different. Maybe you don’t WANT the kids. Maybe you like being single (I don’t, I really like the guy I have. He’s smart, he’s cute, he respects me, he challenges me.). Maybe you work with your hands more than I do. Maybe something else in your life is such a drain that the thought of volunteering exhausts you.

But really, at the end of the day, do you want it all? Anyone that has is all has worked their ass off to get there and will likely never be satisfied, that’s how they got where they are in the first place.

Convergence 2013- a “how-to” from a veteran

I have been to many tech conferences.  This will be my 8th (I think maybe, not sure) Convergence.  I know every year there are folks that are new and folks that are not new and didn’t have a good time last time they attended.  Here’s my “How to have a good conference” advice.

1. Wear good shoes.  ‘Nuf said.
2. Pick sessions in advance.  But not all of your sessions.  Learning something on Monday might trigger an interest in a topic you can see on Wednesday.  (session catalog).  Sure I’d suggest you attend my sessions, but only if they work for you.
3. Plan for loads of time in the expo hall.  You cannot spend enough time here.  This is where round one of networking happens.  Spend more time listening here.
4. Plan to attend the evening events, aka “the parties”.  There are many.  If you’re a drinker, have a drink or two.  DO NOT BE THAT ONE DRUNK GUY (or girl) dancing on the stage with the band or puking in the corner.  This is round two of networking, spend equal time talking and listening here.  When people are a little more relaxed, sell yourself (or company or product, etc.).
5. It’s not ALL business.  I enjoy seeing friends I have made, and meeting new ones.  It is ok to talk about your life and not just CRM or the weather.
6. Learn some etiquette on how to approach someone you know online only. Big difference between “Hey, I follow your posts on twitter, it’s great to finally meet you”  and “I follow you”.
7. Conference food.  It may or may not be your thing.  I will typically make sure to have a good breakfast and a conference hall lunch.  Then there’s dinner.  This one is tough with the parties I mentioned above.  Especially if you want to have a drink or two.  Each party will typically have finger foods.  Pick carefully, some good proteins and a handful of carbs.  Food in New Orleans is good, break the rules and sneak out for a meal one day/night.
8. Listen more than you talk, this conference is full of smart people.  Yes, that includes you, but you are 1 in 11,000 people, learn from those around you. 
9. When you tell someone you will follow-up with a call or email after the event, DO IT.

don’t oversaturate your customers aka #CRMfail

It is not a stretch to say that my family is well-travelled.  Our youngest child is a senior in high school, so we are coming up on her last spring break and I was on the search for places to go.  It would likely just be a mother-daughter trip, and since we both love warm weather and beaches, I was looking at cruises.

I have cruised several times before.  I won’t spend time bad-mouthing the ones I didn’t like, but will say I have preferred both Norwegian and Royal Caribbean, so my hunt started there.

As a past cruiser with Norwegian I typically like getting their email and exclusive special deals.  They are well-branded, pretty, full of goodness.  You never know when a good special will pop-up and we might take a spontaneous trip to a fun new place.  The problem arises when you decide to click thru the email for more details.  I did that a few weeks ago.

For the last 30 days I have received an email from Norwegian on average once per day, sometimes twice per day (my deleted folder auto-cleanses every 30 days, so that’s as far back as I have for now). 

Then there’s the phone calls.

Ring ring.  Hi this is so and so from Norwegian Cruise Lines and I see here that you have been viewing cruises for March on our website.  I was hoping that maybe I could help you select your cruise and get it booked today.

Now I, of all people, know that everything you do online is far from private, but this amount of detail spat back at you by a random stranger is simply creepy.  Then they call again.  And again.  And again, even after being told not to call. No excuse for it.

I do not know what software they use, if it’s one I specialize in, a competitor, home-grown or what not.  But I do know a few things about business, travel and CRM software process, some might go so far as to call me an expert in some of these things.  All of this could be easily managed in software, instead of exploited by software.

I do know that I will be leery of their emails.  I will likely use other travel sites for my first round of information if I want to go on a cruise.  You’d think for a company that has a VP of ecommerce and CRM they’d have this figured out a little bit better.

It’s the end of the world and books are on sale! 50% off #CRMBooks

In honor of the end of the world, we are offering 50% off all our books!  Print books, ebooks, you name it!

Use code: EndOfTheWorld

 

www.crmfieldguide.com

www.crmbizbook.com

www.silverlightpluscrm.com

www.thecrmbook.com

I am now a #SkyDriveInsider

So what does that mean?  I don’t really know yet.  The program just started, I just signed up.

What DO I know?

I have been using SkyDrive for a while.  I’ve recommended it as a great solution to our high school several times over the last several years.  I think “cloud” is the way to go, though we’ve all been cloud for a longtime, but since no one told us it was a cloud, we never realized it (hello Atari GameLine in 1983).

I have recently moved my primary dev machine to Windows8, built-in SkyDrive. SkyDrive on my Surface.  SkyDrive on my Windows 8 phone.  Still getting around to putting it on my other two computers, a Windows 7 laptop and desktop.  I will get there.

I know I have much to learn  and that is part of my motivation of signing up for the Insider program.  It looks to be a group of techies and not--so-techies, we’re volunteers, not employees.  Watch for blog posts here about it as I learn more for myself and from others.

Goal 1:  Get SkyDrive on all of my machines and set-up local sync of stuff that I would need offline access to.

New devices everywhere! And now we review them. #Surface #DellXPS12 #HTC8x #Acer

In the last few weeks I have replaced my primary laptop, my smart phone, added a new touch monitor and a Surface tablet. Normally I am risk averse when adding more than a single new device to my repertoire. Somehow these just all lined up and here we are. It might be worth noting that I am left handed and have had loads of issues and bad experiences with touch-devices in the past. Add on to that the tremor I have in that left hand, I am a tough critic of touch devices. All of these devices here are touch-based experiences (the laptop when in laptop mode has a hard keyboard and the Surface has the touch-keyboard cover).

First thing I got was the Surface tablet. I have the one given away at Build conference. I have never had a true tablet/slate device before. Hubby has had an iPad of some variety for a few years. I have had a few different Kindle devices, including a Fire. With that said, this device is perfectly adequate. I am finding myself using it more as an e-reader on steroids than anything else right now. It is cool that it syncs with my other Windows 8 device, the smooth experience is good. It lacks a good email interface. Heck, it lacks a bad one. The one there is outright awful. If I were in a situation that needed true email capabilities and I had this as my only device, I would open OWA. The app there works for onesie-twosie email processing, not more. Outlook on my phone is far superior than this app. I need to find more uses for this device, but that’s me, not the device.

Next came my laptop. I have been traveling with a BIG laptop. It is hard for me to see small screens. But as displays get better/sharper my eyes see smaller things better. So I figured if I didn’t like the new laptop someone at work would be more than happy to take it off my hands. So, I now use a Dell XPS12, the cool one with the flip screen. Dell did this right. The flip screen seems pretty solid, done better than some of the other twirly screens out there that I’ve watched break with regular use. This one is secured by magnets and snaps right in and out of place very well and as you’d expect. Sometimes it seems like my mouse/pointer lags, but I would think that more a software than hardware issue. This is my workhorse machine, the one with a million open-programs all the time, and it keeps up. I've finally used it as tablet-like thing a few times in the last couple days. I needed to put some stuff on a whiteboard and before I’d have to take a picture, carry my 10 pound laptop or make several round trips to the screen but I just opened it on the XPS, flipped the screen and took my info from there. Then today I was shopping for some picture frames for some photos I took on vacation, I easily brought the laptop with me into the store, flipped the screen and loaded the pictures I will be printing, like put it right up there against the frame in the middle of Hobby Lobby. Even after just a couple of weeks I wanted every device to be touch and behave this way. What I don’t like is the total black box mindset. I am used to swapping out for new memory, a better battery, etc. Not happening here. Also, the video out is more common to Apple products than PC and I had to buy a bunch of new cables and adapters. Would be cool if it had an Ethernet port, but that’s not a deal breaker, wi-fi is everywhere now and pretty fast.

Now the new touch-monitor, the Acer 23-inch LCD touch that is now sold out most places. Love this. A lot. It really truly makes the touch experience with the XPS complete. It simply works as you want and expect. Only potential negative is its desktop footprint, like your literal physical desktop. I do need to spend some time rearranging the other stuff on my desk and make better use of space, it’s getting crowded there. Yea, I know, first world problems. It takes the video out and a USB port if you want the full experience. I’ve not yet tried to add a hub and more devices, not needing to use more than the two that come with the laptop. The monitor has a couple of UBS ports too.

Now the phone. I was one of the first to get a Windows Phone 7 and wore my first one out, used it until it was falling apart. I had averaged a new phone every year to eighteen months. I had my LG Quantum for more than 20 months before it had to retire. Knowing new phones would be out soon after that I grabbed a phone from our graveyard of phones as a make-do phone until I could get a new one. I got a new developer phone with the new platform, the build phone the Nokia 920. But, my carrier didn’t provide full device support. What’s the use of getting a new phone with limited functionality? I know I like Windows Phone OS so it was more about gut feel on what device to get. So I got the HTC Windows Phone 8x, in purple. Purple because it was in stock and my other choice was neon something or other. This phone is great. People see it and ask about it all the time (today the waitress at Waffle House asked about it). It feels about half the weight as the Nokia, fits the hand perfectly. Great sound. Love the system updates from 7 to 8, totally using the different tiles sizes. Can’t offer many comments on the camera yet, haven’t taken many pictures. I do wish it had the anti-shake feature of my last several phones (see above, my dominant hand tremors).

For me I have been waiting for someone, anyone to get the cross-device experience right. I don’t think it’s totally there yet, but Microsoft is well on its way, some of the product teams need to tweak their specific contributions a little still. One silly little thing is that when I updated my desktop wallpaper on one Windows 8 device, it updated on the other automagically; the experience is familiar regardless of the device used to access my world. The pinch and zoom features are great and make up for the smaller (but sharper) screen sizes on the devices. I’m learning more shortcuts everyday (ok, my daughter is reading a book and teaching me).