The Detail Department

You are here: Home / Archives for Me

I’m a Salesforce.com Certified Force.com Developer

by

I have finally formalised my Salesforce knowledge and taken the certification exam to become a Salesforce.com Certified Force.com Developer.

Salesforce Certified Developer LogoSo what does this mean? Well Salesforce’s idea of being a Developer and mine are two very different things. For me, being a developer means that you build and compile code in a code editor and use a code repository. (Things like html, css, javascript don’t really count as being a real developer in my book).

Salesforce is a declarative platform, which means most of the customisation of Salesforce can be achieved with just clicks, rather than code – that’s the bit that I know, and know well. There is another level of Salesforce that is all about code, which is the bit that I don’t do, (but I have a great developer that I work with that can do that stuff).

So this certification says that I can design and implement a customised Salesforce implementation for you, and if we need to get into some really advanced code, I can spec it up and get someone to build it for us. However, as per my Salesforce Methodology and my previous post on great Tools for Salesforce Administrators, there is so much we can do without code in Salesforce, which is good.

I’m a (Virtual) Resident Geek

by

The second round of particpants for the Geeks in Residence program from the Australia Council for the Arts was recently announced, and I am very pleased to say that I am now the Resident Geek for the Arts Law Centre of Australia – well virtually in residence anyway.

The Geeks in Residence program is a great program by Arts Digital Era, part of the Australia Council for the Arts, that pairs up Geeks with Arts organisations that need a bit of a helping hand to find their way in the online world. Whilst it is mainly focused around getting help around social media, and online presence, some organisations also need some help in the back office systems, and that is where I can help. For some more information about the Geek in Residence program, have a look at the application process and FAQs page. The program also has it’s own website.

ArtsLaw provides a great service to all forms of artists from around the country to provide legal advice and legal services such as reviewing a contract, or downloading a standard agreement. This is a great service and very much needed in the art community.

After recently launching a great new website, ArtsLaw now need some help in streamlining some of the back-end systems to more integrate the website with the internal business processes, and that is where I am helping out.

The Geek in Residence program is technically meant to be just that – in residence, but as I had already made plans to move to Melbourne when I was interviewed for the program, we were able to juggle it a bit and I am still able to help ArtsLaw, virtually, using a few great online collaboration tools and the good old telephone. (There will be some face to face time required in the Sydney office as we start to do some of the implementation and training). This also fits in quite nicely with the new systems and tools we will be implementing at ArtsLaw as it’s all about building on the success of their new website and moving to a more online way of working.

A big thanks to Fee Plumley, the woman behind Arts Digital Era and the Geeks in Residence Programe, and I wish her well in her new adventure.  Also a big thanks to the team at ArtsLaw, as I am really enjoying working with you and I can’t wait to get these new systems and tools in place.

Some Media Coverage

by

Just a quick post as I like to keep track on my blog of other places I am mentioned.

I recently had an interesting experience of having an article and photo shoot done of me and my new Kindle featured in The Australian IT section. It was interesting to have my pic show up on the front page of the Australian IT website for a day. The article was good and the photographer did a great job and the end result was a great photo of the kindle with me in the background.

See the full article here.

The second bit of coverage is a video that I was in, taken at a Girl Geek event late last year. The video is talking about mentoring tips for younger women entering IT. As usual, I find all video’s of me to be horrible but once you have gotten over the horror of seeing yourself on video the first time, it gets easier.

The video is on the blog of the wonderful Catherine Eibner and can be seen here. I’m at 4min 25 seconds, but it is worth watching the whole video.

Too Many Gadgets?

by

If you know me, you know that I love my gadgets… but can there ever be too many new gadgets? I think I may have surpassed even my quest for new gadgets over this Christmas / New Year period. This is just a quick list of the new (or new to me) gadgets that I have been playing with / setting up over the last few weeks and next few weeks.

It did not really occur to me that I had a gadget problem until the gadget to end all gadgets came to me on New Year’s Eve. A wonderful and completely unexpected gift of a Kindle from two very beautiful friends. I was floored and so touched that all I could do was cry (yep, still teary now whilst writing this). All I can say is WOW! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

So here is the list…

Work Gadgets

  • Dell Laptop – about 5 years old, and only 1GB of RAM, so it probably won’t last long… but lots of setup needed on it
  • Nokia E51 – a decent business phone. The data doesn’t yet work and I haven’t synced it so still lots more setup to do
  • Next week it will be setting up the new desk with extra monitor, docking station etc etc

Gadgets for Family (At least these were just set up and go, no further maintaining required)

  • New TiVo
  • New 24″ Widescreen Monitor
  • New wireless keyboard and mouse
  • New Kogan 10.4″ Digital Photo Frame
  • And re-located and re-set up Router / Modem (although I did not have to do much set up on this one), Set Top Box and Old TV.

Gadgets for Friends – Yet to be set up

  • Nokia 6120 – a good all round phone
  • Telstra wireless home phone / answering machine bundle
  • Skype Out (not technically a gadget, but something I need to set up)

Gadgets for me

  • 2nd Hand HTC Magic, Android phone – have had it for 3 weeks now and have not really even played with it yet (Having owned 4 phones in 2009, and tried at least another 3, I’m a bit over phones at the moment)
  • New Canon Pixma MX860 Printer
  • New Vodafone 3G Wireless
  • New Laptop (coming in 2 weeks time)
  • My current Eee PC (which had some issues so needed some TLC)
  • I’m still getting used to the iPhone which I’ve had for about 3 months and I still haven’t really set up my PC correctly since Windows 7 was installed
  • and the New Kindle!!!!!

So the moral to this story is, if I ever ever say again that I NEED a new gadget, or my life will not be complete unless I have the latest phone that comes out… please remind me to re-read this post.

However, having said that, I can’t wait for all the announcements to come out of CES in the next few weeks, and I’m sure the perfect phone device is just around the corner…

Ah, there is no hope for me…

Diary Note

by

So, as I tend to keep this blog as a bit of a diary of major events in my life, amongst the other occasional rants. This post is about my work situation.

So I had a great new job for the past two months as a SharePoint consultant at CustomWare (www.customware.net). I love CustomWare as a company and I loved working with SharePoint and I learned so much. Yesterday I lost that job… I was an easy target for cost cutting, being an expensive resource and still being on probation (so no payout).

So back to the job hunt… this time made so much more difficult as the media is talking about the ‘R’ word now (and we know it’s inevitable). But I have been here before and I’m sure I will be here again at some time in my life, so I know what I have to do – Network, Network, Network.

I just want to put a shout out to Michael Specht’s great new Job Hunting networking site that just recently went live – www.jobseekr.com.au. I am sure I will be getting a lot of benefit from this site over the coming weeks.

So now time to update my LinkedIn and my Web Resume…

what’s been keeping me busy

by

In the few months that I have been working for myself I have learned a whole heap of new skills and expanded on number of my existing skills, so I thought I’d start to document a few of them.

GoodBarry / Business Catalyst

I first came across GoodBarry at BarCamp #3 early in 2008 and thought, great idea, I’d like to know something more about that. Late last year I had the chance. I’m doing some contract work for a GoodBarry partner building GoodBarry sites. I’m also setting up one for my sister, just to practice with the GoodBarry platform even more. I love the GoodBarry concept – a complete tool for online businesses. My sister currently has a website with hosting, an online shop, a payment gateway, and a mailing list app – all costing lots of dollars each per month, and the look and feel of jumping from the website to the online shop is not consistent. With a GoodBarry site, it is all in the one place with consistent look and feel for a very small monthly fee – including hosting!

So I have well and truly got stuck into knowing everything I can about how to build a GoodBarry site. There is just so much you can do with this platform, it’s quite amazing, and they are always adding new features that make it even better. Of course, as with any packaged system there are some limitations as to what you can do, but in most cases you can work around it.

The site I’m building for my sister is an exercise in minimalist styling and trying to use the templates out of the box that GoodBarry provides. I’ve had to make some small changes to the layout and CSS but overall it looks quite good as a basic template. (I will post a link to the site once it’s live).

The beauty of GoodBarry is that it is a platform, and you can skin it however you like, using CSS / Flash / Javascript etc – after all it is a website. The two sites I’ve been working on for the GoodBarry partner have been with a CSS guru which is great, so I’ve been building the structure, layout and functionality and my CSS guru has been making it look great. In the meantime I’m learning a heap about CSS and Javascript too. (Firebug really helps with CSS learning).

So have a look at the site’s I’ve been part of – I’m quite proud of them

  • www.reportsurfer.com – a site to upload, share and run Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services reports. The reports list is a GoodBarry web app with some custom CSS. Next steps is to make it a full social networking community once GoodBarry release some new features.
  • www.angrykoala.com.au – a website showcasing the business of Angry Koala – a Microsoft Partner specialising in Business Intelligence. There is a lot of lovely graphics and CSS on this site, but it still is a GoodBarry site underneath.

SQL Server / Microsoft Products

I’ve been doing a small project on SQL Server for a client and any hesitation that I may have had that I had not used SQL in a while has well and truly gone, and I am tackling different things every day and increasing my skillset with SQL Server all the time. Things I’ve been doing are:

  • Merge Replication
  • Backups and Maintenance Plans
  • Scheduled Jobs
  • Server Roles and security
  • SSIS packages, including migrating from DTS packages on an old SQL Server 2000 box and using BIDS to build the packages
  • General Transact SQL statements

And I just love that this is all able to be done remotely from my desktop logging into 4 different servers to keep an eye on how they are going.

Also on the Microsoft front I have been getting much more familiar with Microsoft CRM and other Dynamics products like AX and NAV via some downloaded VPC’s from Microsoft. I already knew a fair bit about CRM and NAV but it’s good to keep my hand in and discover and learn some new things.

Word Development / Confluence

I’ve just completed a nice little word development project to set up a small business with excellent looking, well functioning templates, complete with lots of autotext entries. I love doing this stuff because it is very easy for me and it’s something I can do really well.

I’ve also been playing with Confluence to try to convince them that Confluence is the way to go for their team collaboration. I love Confluence and would recommend it to any business that either has SharePoint (as an add-on to SharePoint) or for a small business that can’t afford SharePoint. Confluence even has pricing specials on at the moment that makes it even more affordable for a small team – and they will host it for you.

SharePoint

I went to a user group a few weeks ago on SharePoint and I rediscovered my passion for it, so much so that I would really like to work with SharePoint full time. Doing SharePoint and integration with other MS apps in the business. It was confirmed to me that yes, I do know my stuff with SharePoint and I can go into a business and add value to them from day one in their SharePoint implementation. Yes, there is still a heap I need to learn about SharePoint but I think that’s the case with most people too.

So yes, I have been keeping busy and keeping my hand in to existing products that I have previously used and learning a whole heap of new stuff along the way.

UPDATE: The Angry Koala site is now live (www.angrykoala.com.au) and it looks fantastic (I didn’t do the beautiful design I just built the site in GoodBarry).

Wow what a year

by

This part “Christmas Message”, part Summary of the year and part thank you to all the fantastic wonderful people I have met and hung out with this year.

But, wow, what an up and down year this has been… I feel in some ways that this Christmas is a deja vu of last Christmas (ie being unemployed), but there has been so much that has happened this year that things are quite different this Christmas. So here’s a bit of a rundown of the year.

Job(s)

Well, I’ve had 2 jobs this year – a Consultant at Hands-on Systems, which I loved, but left after 3 months as I was headhunted by ProjectCentre for my perfect job, combining my IT and Construction Skills. That job lasted just over 3 months, and I loved it, and thought I was doing a great job and getting the product ready for release and then I was “retrenched” – I won’t go on about it, but I’m still very angry and upset about that one.

So back to the horrible world of job hunting and recruiters – I can’t say how much I hate job hunting! I have such specialised skills that recruiters won’t even look at my resume because it just does not “tick all the boxes”. I have found some great recruiters that really do their job well, but some of them are so bad I just have to hang up. The problem is that my Ideal job that is combining IT and Construction just does not exist as construction companies don’t think that they need to spend money on IT. However, if I can get in there and start working, they see how valuable my contribution is. For me the biggest hurdle is getting to the interview stage. I tend to do much better once I’m in front of a potential employer.

With the impact of the GFC, I’m concentrating my job hunting efforts in IT rather than Construction as I think that IT may weather the financial storm better, but I won’t rule out construction – I won’t rule out any job doing anything as long as it pays the mortgage.

I have been doing some great work on contract for the few months I’ve been out of work, and I’ve enjoyed doing it, but I can not earn enough to live… right now I’m just earning enough to keep a few bills paid and living very frugally. Also, I hate contracting. I hate not knowing where the next few hours work is coming from. I hate working alone (although I do have a small team for my current work which is good). So I do really need to find a full time job that pays well, so I can feel settled and secure once again.

In January I have some more contracting opportunities and I will be back to the job hunting again, and will try some other tactics rather than dealing with recruiters too much. So here’s hoping that 2009 will be the year I get a good job where I earn enough, I am valued as an employee and I love going to work. And I wish that for everyone else too!

Wellbeing

Another up and down year this year… I’ve had a persistent nagging bronchial infection for a lot of the year which has not been great and it curtailed playing Underwater Hockey for much of the year. Luckily there was a good stint of a few months mid year where I felt great and well, and that coincided with my Trip… so that worked well.

I’ve still been doing Feldenkrais all year, have been doing it now for at least 15 years and still get so much out of it. It’s rare for me to miss a Saturday class and I love going and love catching up with all the people in the class for coffee after.

I’ve also been doing my Nordic walking most weeks. We now have only a very small group of regular walkers and it’s difficult to keep the group running but I enjoy it so much I will keep it going.

But overall, this year has been the worst health I’ve had for many years and I really hope 2009 will be much much better.

Travel

Well this is the year that I finally did it… finally got to London, Europe and Dubai. I now feel like a real member of the human race having at least seen London and Paris, and Dubai was amazing.

Despite the GFC and the dollar crashing a few weeks before I left, I had a great time and loved the whole trip. I won’t go into a lot of detail here as I’ve written a few blog posts about it already and you can a selection of my photos on Flickr.

The highlights of my trip were Bilbao, the Be2Camp in London, Wales with Emily, Paris and Dubai.

I would love to travel again now… so hopefully an opportunity will arise some time in 2009!

Social

This is the aspect of my life that has been the best year ever! I have met such wonderful new friends this year and have been to so many great events that it has just been so great. This is mainly due to Twitter and the Sydney Tech Community which is thriving. Some of the excellent events this year have been

  • New Years Eve (thanks @ceibner)
  • Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum (thanks to @trib for the ticket)
  • Earth Hour Girls night out
  • Regular STUB events (thanks @happener, @funkycoda and @alegrya for organising), including many Picnics too
  • Girl Geek Dinners (@damana you rock!)
  • Various catch up’s with @trib and @mspecht when they have been in Sydney
  • Interesting South No. 2
  • CodeCamp Oz (we missed @ceibner but I had a great time with the boys)
  • Demos Happen Here Comp (thanks to @rog24 and @coatsy)
  • PubCamp (thanks to @jedwhite and @mediamum)
  • TechEd Week, Women in Technology event (even though I did not attend TechEd)
  • Web 2.o University, Web Directions Week and AussieTUB (even though I did not attend Web Directions itself)
  • GirlTUB x 2 (excellent evenings out with the twitter girls)
  • Sydney Open Coffee (thanks @kimheras for an excellent idea)
  • SBTUG (Sydney Business and Technnology User Group, thanks to @craigbailey & @aussienick)
  • BarCamp x 2 (one which I helped organised and the other thanks to the org team esp @funkycoda)
  • NSW KM Forum (thanks to @cheiftech for including me on the panel at the last minute)
  • WebBlast (thanks @russmaxdesign and @happener)
  • Very regular catch up’s with twitter peeps – Nano STUB’s Micro STUB’s, Mini STUB’s

I’m sure there are others that I have not mentioned, but wow, that is some list!

And the excellent non-tech events

  • Family Wedding in Tumut in September
  • Various trips up to the Gold Coast / Brisbane

And a very special mention to the people and events during my trip

  • GGD in London
  • Be2camp in London (thanks to @eepaul, @pbroviak and @martinbrown)
  • Green Drinks in London (excellent evening)
  • Dinners out with people in Barcelona during World Architecture Festival
  • Wonderful Family and Friends catch-ups

Next year is shaping up for another big one with

  • New Years Eve again (thanks to @ceibner again)
  • CupCake Camp in Feb
  • More STUB’s
  • Another BarCamp or 2
  • The remotest possibility of a Be2Camp in Sydney some time
  • Definitely more GirlTUB’s and GGD’s
  • We definitely need another Wild Wicked Wanton Women of the Web 2.0 event (looking at you @silkcharm)
  • I really hope to get to more conferences in 2009
  • I need to start to get to Social Coffee on Friday mornings (thanks to @servantofchaos that organises this)
  • ooh and my Family trip in May to celebrate my Mum and Dad’s 50th Wedding Aniversary, and a family Wedding in March

And I just have to make special mention to the biggest group of wonderful people on twitter this year that I have had the pleasure to hang with

The girls: @ceibner, @kcarruthers, @silkcharm, @pixel8ted, @alegrya, @misswired, @mediamum, @damana, @headwellred, @christydena, @bronwen, @allidc, @zuzu, @aussieAna, @dekrazee1

The the guys: @trib, @funkycoda, @dizzystuff, @lstoll, @aussienick, @cadbloke, @angusscown, @nickhac, @stillgherian @apostrophepong, @snarkyplatypus, @mpesce, @nathanaelb, @rog42, @coatsy, @ryancross, @fush, @flungabunga, @seancarmody, @marclehmann, @sethyates, @jedwhite, @maniacd, @jamesbreeze, @mspecht, @aDB, @warlach, @coliwilso, @liako, @eskimo_sparky, @gregdwyer

The UK Peeps: @martinbrown, @eepaul, @melstarrs, @jodiecarnegie, @amcewen (and of course @pbroviak virtually)

And all the Perth / Melb / Canberra peeps that were around for AussieTUB and I’ve probably left many people off the list, but thanks to you all!

Wow, I really hope 2009 is even more social, I meet even more people and the Sydney Tech community has many many more great events!

Amazing inspirational women in IT

by

My wonderful friend Catherine Eibner has just written a lovely blog post listing some of the women in IT in Aus that she finds inspirational. I am honoured to be on that list. I met Catherine just one year ago, around the same time as meeting Laurel, Kate, Ali and Linda, and during the year have met Damana, Bronwen Clune and Pia (I have not had the pleasure of meeting Bronwen Zande yet). I too second Catherine’s sentiments about the wonderful women on that list. These women have been part of a huge change in my life in the past year, and they will be there with me into the new year as I find that new role that is the right one for me. But it’s interesting that this last year has been full of changes for most of us on this list, and it has been a privilege to share the past year with you all.  

Thanks Catherine! You Rock!

Update: Now Damana has posted a really wonderful post too… I love Girl Geek Dinners and they are always inspiring and fun. And great to see we get two in December! In fact they are so good, I went to one in London on the first night I was there… (was a bit jetlaged, but it was still great). 

Thanks Damana!

Been a bit slack lately

by

I’ve been a bit slack with my blog posts lately… I’ve been away and now focussing on Job Hunting, so that’s been keeping me busy… I do have a number of blog posts brewing / half written so there will be more to come soon, including details of my trip.