Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Chowda Chat | Leah Busque




Chowda Chat is a periodic Beantown Web installment that features a conversation with an influential member of the Boston technology community.

The purpose of Chowda Chat is to provide Web technology professionals with information to help advance their careers. The format involves three questions and responses followed by one final thought.

Today's Chowda Chat presents the insights of Leah Busque, Founder, RUNmyERRAND.com, a Web service that helps individuals and small businesses in a community outsource their tasks and deliveries. Think of it as Craigslist meets eBay. They are pioneering a trend that they call Service Networking.

Leah, you were a software engineer for IBM for seven years. Why give up the fast track to start your own business and what were some of the first steps you took?

"I felt I had more to offer than just technical skills. By starting my own business I could not only utilize my technical expertise, I could also develop skills in the business, legal and management arenas. I basically locked myself in a room for four months and developed a working prototype for my idea. Along the way I networked with anyone who would listen and give me feedback about my concept.
My Board of Advisors became the following:
With their guidance I launched a beta version of the service in Charlestown (MA). I have since expanded the RUNmyERRAND crew and extended the service to the greater Boston community. We are over-the-moon excited about being a finalist for the fbFund '09 Incubator Program established by Facebook. Additional funding will help us introduce our service in other metropolitan areas."
[Update: RUNmyERRAND.com has been selected as one of 20 final winners and will participate in the fbFund REV incubator program to take place in Silicon Valley this summer.]

What technology runs your Web operations?

"I researched several options and decided to implement Ruby on Rails because of its rapid development features. While I didn't know the technology when I started I felt confident from my training at IBM that I could learn it quickly. I started with O'Reilly's ONLamp tutorials and Rails Cookbook. Our Web operations also utilize Amazon Web Services to manage our expanding data needs."
[NOTE: Additional resources include 31 Fascinating Ruby on Rails Tutorials & Guides.]

How can someone get started with RUNmyERRAND.com?

It's simple, first check out the How it works in 90 seconds video, then click the Get Started button! Sign up before the end of May and your first errand is better than FREE, it is on us! And, make sure you become a fan of our service on Facebook.

Final Thought

"There are a lot of great ideas out there, the difficult part is taking the leap and deciding to execute on them. There was a very clear moment for me where I thought to myself, there is absolutely no reason why I can not do this, so why not give it a try. I've enjoyed meeting many other entrepreneurs with the same mentality, which makes for an exciting startup scene here in Boston!"
Update: Bloomberg BusinessWeek article, November 11, 2010.

Previous Chowda Chats

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Friday, May 15, 2009

Horizon Interactive Awards | 2009

The Horizon Interactive Awards honors the most talented developers of interactive media.

Judges look for the best blend between creativity and functionality. Awards are issued based on the following criteria:

  • solution creativity and originality
  • overall graphic design / appearance / user experience
  • communication of message
  • technical merit
  • effectiveness of solution

2009 Best of Category Winners

Here are the 2009 Best of Category winners:

Web designers and developers can benchmark their Web solutions against these award-winning entries to stimulate the creative process and help raise the bar.

Here are the Massachusetts organizations (along with their projects) honored with awards:

Access a complete list of more than 500 2009 Award Winners to see which organizations (and projects) may have been honored with Horizon Interactive Awards in your state.

[ NOTE: . Click the icon in the right-hand column to become a fan. ] >>>

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Wednesday, May 13, 2009

IT Education Providers | Massachusetts

Continuous improvement is a prerequisite for long-term career success as a Web technology professional. Lifelong learning is not optional -- it is mandatory -- as Web technologies evolve constantly.

A recent survey of more than 30,000 Web professionals reveals that nearly 80% of Web workers list the desire to improve their technical skills through educational training as their next career move.

IT Education Providers

Mass High Tech, The Journal of New England Technology, has researched providers of information technology (IT) education services in the region and has compiled a ranking. Here are the largest IT education providers in Massachusetts (click the "in" icon next to the organization to reveal your LinkedIn connections at that organization):

  1. New Horizons of Boston | Boston, Waltham
  2. CompuWorks Systems, Inc. | Boston
  3. RJ Wronski Associates, Inc. | Chelsea
  4. The Training Associates | Westborough
  5. Middlesex Community College | Lowell
  6. TrainerQuest | Allston
  7. UMass Lowell Cont. Studies, Corp. & Distance Ed. | Lowell
  8. Softeach | Newton
  9. BITadvisors, Inc. | Hingham
  10. Learning Tree International | Burlington, Waltham
  11. Miller & Associates | Northborough
  12. MicroCAD Training & Consulting | Watertown
  13. nSight, Inc. | Burlington
  14. Charles River Public Internet Center | Waltham
  15. iDL Systems | Boston
  16. Softeach, Inc. | Newton
  17. Bridgewater State College | Bridgewater

This listing is ranked by number of students trained in New England in 2008. For complete details access Largest IT Education Providers. pdf

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Monday, May 11, 2009

Boston Market | May 2009

Is the job market half empty or half full?

Half Empty

If you want to look for negatives, there are plenty to chose from. Here are just three . . .

  • The unemployment rate in the United States has risen to 8.9%, the highest rate in a quarter century as reported by the New York Times.
  • The IT Employee Confidence Index decreased to its lowest since tracking began in the fourth quarter of 2005, according to a recent survey commissioned by technology placement firm Technisource.

Half Full

If you want to focus on the positive, you can find reasons for optimism also. Here are just two . . .

  • According to The Dice Report for May there are more than 1,900 technology opportunities posted on their job board for the Boston metro area. If you live in the Washington, DC metro area, you have more than three times as many opportunities to chose from.

Looking at The Glass Through a Different Lens

So, how does a Web technology professional turn a half empty glass into a half full one in the current economy? Perhaps, by focusing less on the skills we currently have to sell into the marketplace and more on the skills that organizations are currently willing to purchase.

The list of Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated for May and appears in the right-hand column. The list shows more up arrows than down indicating a stability, if not slight improvement, in the technology job market since early April.

As usual, demand for programming and database skills trump demand for design skills. While Photoshop and Flash (Adobe Creative Suite programs) appear in the Top 20, four of the top five spots on the list are dominated by data-related skills:

  1. SQL [ 504 ]
  2. Oracle [ 466 ]
  3. Java [ 312 ]
  4. SQL Server [ 216 ]
  5. XML [ 216 ]

This quest for data is underscored by a New York Times article that highlights the personal story of Douglas Bowman, a former top visual designer at Google. While this story is anecdotal the data from job postings reveals that the market is placing more emphasis on data-driven development and less on design.

Ten Ways to Fill Your Glass

So, regardless of whether you view the current job market as half empty or half full, there IS a job market and that market is moving forward. We have little choice but to move forward with it.

To help focus our attention on the future here is a brief summary of a blog post at TechRepublic, which constructs a blueprint to the future. Here are three skill sets to focus on today . . .

  1. Develop expertise in one of The Big Three (.NET, Java, PHP)
  2. Become an RIA (Rich Internet Application) pro
  3. Demonstrate solid front-end Web skills (HTML, CSS, JavaScript)

To help fill your glass with opportunity, access 10 Skills Developers Will Need in the Next Five Years. Then, get to work developing and implementing a personal game plan that will prepare you for future opportunities.

[ NOTE: You can now search more than 250 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>

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Monday, April 27, 2009

InformationWeek's Salary Survey | 2009

The average information technology (IT) staffer in the United States earns $80,000. IT managers are rewarded with a median compensation of $105,000.

These findings were released today as part of InformationWeek's 2009 annual salary survey. More than 12,000 IT professionals in the U.S. responded to the survey.

Listed below are data points that relate to the Boston metro area and to Web-related professionals.

Staff Base Salaries By Metro Area

"What is your annual base salary?"

  • Boston | $90,000

Staff Base Salaries By Job Function

"What is your current annual base salary?"

  • Web design/development | $70,000

Management Base Salaries By Job Function

"What is your current annual base salary?"

  • Web design/development | $95,000

Management Compensation By Job Function

"What is your total annual cash compensation, including salary and all cash bonuses?"

  • Web design/development | $99,000

The Next Step

Here are three take-home messages from the survey:

  • Web-related workers earn less than the median compared to other IT workers
  • IT workers in Boston earn more than the national median
  • IT managers earn more than IT staffers

Web-related workers who continue to develop their technical and managerial skills can be rewarded with six-figure compensation packages. More than half of respondents (55%) reported that their company provided support for training.

Continuous improvement of technology skills that employers value, and leadership skills that all organizations need, is one of the surest paths to above average pay and career security in the information technology fields.

To learn more about which technology skills employers value the most in the current economy, begin by accessing a press release that provides an overview of the InformationWeek annual salary survey results. A comprehensive 59-page report is also available for FREE download (registration is required).

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Mass Innovation Nights | May 2009‏

Mass Innovation Nights is back! More than 160 guests attended the inaugural event in April. The May lineup has just been announced.

Mass Innovation Nights provides innovators with a place to connect with the media, influential bloggers, the marketplace and each other.

May Innovators

The spotlight will be on the following innovators in May:

  • AllFocus | contacts-calendar service with mobile sync

  • Blitz Innovations, Inc. | strategic innovation meets rapid execution

  • Hubunity | tools to collect, organize and manage your connections with everything local

  • IBM/Lotus | work smarter with LotusLive

  • Mixandmeet | small groups - fun times - new friends

  • Nexiwave | find what you've been missing from your conference calls

  • Pixily | go paperless, find documents anywhere, anytime

  • Urban Kitchen | smart solutions for how we live

  • WherePhone | know where your vehicles are

Event Details

Location: Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation | Waltham

Date: Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Time: 6:00 PM

To learn more, simply access the Mass Innovation Nights website. Check out Who's Coming to help determine if this FREE networking event might be valuable for you to attend. Then, submit your RSVP to attend this launch party.

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Saturday, April 18, 2009

Fastest Growing Private Companies | 2009

The Boston Business Journal identified the 60 fastest-growing private companies in Massachusetts. These companies were honored at the 3rd annual BBJ Pacesetters event.

Other metropolitan areas have similar programs. For example, more than 40 metropolitan areas are represented at bizjournals.com. Simply select your metropolitan area from the "Choose Another City:" drop-down list and review upcoming "Events & Nominations."

Boston Business Journal Pacesetters

Fast growing companies need talented people to help sustain growth. Listed below are the 60 fastest-growing private companies in Massachusetts.

[ NOTE: Beantown Web now features the LinkedIn Company Insider Widget. Simply log into your LinkedIn account on a separate tab, then click the "in" icon next to the company name below to identify the LinkedIn connections you might have within that organization. ]

The Next Step

Check out the company websites for hiring opportunities in your field of expertise.

Remember, according to the Sources of Hire Study | 2009:

"We continue to advise job seekers to NEVER apply to a company without first networking to an employee in that firm for a referral. The difference in probability of getting "up to bat" is too large to ignore."

[ NOTE: You can now search more than 250 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>

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Thursday, April 16, 2009

Social Media Hub | Boston

Is your community a social media hub? Boston is.

Mashable: The Social Media Guide has launched a series of articles entitled Social Media Hub. The purpose is to shine the spotlight on local social media communities, companies and personalities.

Two metro areas have been explored so far:

Additional metro areas will be canvased in the weeks and months ahead.

Social Media Personalities

Here are 10 social media personalities that Bostonians should keep their eye on:

Profiles of each personality are listed in Social Media Hub: Boston along with the following:

  • six recurring Beantown social media events
  • eight Boston-baked social media organizations

Social Media Hubs

Additional metropolitan areas will be listed at Mashable once they have been researched and posted.

If you feel you are a social media player in your community, or know someone who is, contact Mashable to request inclusion in an upcoming article about your Social Media Hub.

[ NOTE: You can now search more than 250 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>

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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

IMA Web Awards | Q1 2009

Nine websites were honored with Interactive Media Awards (IMA) during the first quarter.

If you are involved in designing, developing, managing, supporting and promoting websites, then you are eligible for The Interactive Media Awards™ competition.

Typically, nominations from around the world are accepted from the following groups:

  • web design firms
  • advertising agencies
  • corporate marketing departments
  • individual web designers & graphic artists

IMA judges evaluate websites based on the following five criteria:

  • design
  • content
  • feature functionality
  • usability
  • standards compliance

Boston-based judges include the following:

Best in Class

The Best in Class award winners in selected industry categories for the first quarter include the following:

You can search the Winners Gallery for additional honorees in the Outstanding Achievement Award Level.

How to Enter

If you would like to be considered for an award, simply complete and submit an entry form by June 30, 2009. To review the categories for the second quarter and download an entry form, simply access How to Enter.

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Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Web Design Survey | 2008

"The Survey for People who Make Websites" has been compiled and the results are now available. In 2008, more than 30,000 readers took part in the A List Apart survey. Presented below is a snapshot of key findings.

Show Me the Money

The "average" person who makes websites for a living earns $1,000 a week:

  • average salary (weighted) | $52,095
  • salary range (median) | $40,000 - $59,999

Not all web workers are "average." Here are the highs and the lows:

  • earning over $100,000 | 9%
  • earning under $40,000 | 39%

Show Me the BIG Money

If you are looking to become one of the nine percent who have made it into the six-figure club ($100,000+), here are the titles most likely to get you there (percentage of job-title holders who earn six-figure salaries):

  • Creative Director | 25%
  • Usability Expert/Consultant/Lead | 21%
  • Information Architect | 20%
  • Web Director | 16%
  • Marketer | 16%

Job Titles

While the above list represents the high-paying titles, here are the three most popular job titles (other than "other"):

  • Developer | 28%
  • Web Designer | 13%
  • Designer | 8%

Young and Male

A relatively new medium attracts relatively young practitioners (age range | percentage of respondents):

  • 18 - 29 | 52%
  • 30 - 44 | 40%

A somewhat surprising 84 percent of respondents were male.

Work Style

The majority of survey respondents work for someone else. Employees outnumber independents by a two-to-one margin:

  • employee | 56%
  • contractor/freelancer | 26%

Next Career Move

Responses to the question "What is your next career move?" differ dramatically by work style -- employees vs. independents.

For employees the top three "next moves" were as follows:

  • Get a promotion at my current job | 95%
  • Get a new job in a new organization | 86%
  • Attend a conference/take classes/other educational activity | 79%

For independents the top three "next moves" were as follows:

  • Find a partner whose skills complement mine | 73%
  • Get my first job in the field | 69%
  • Start pitching a better class of client | 68%

The Next Step

Here is the "70 | 40 | 10" take-home message based on the findings from this survey:

  • 70% of all independents want to convert their work status to employee
  • 40% of Web workers earn less than $40,000 per year
  • 10% of Web workers earn a six-figure salary

Beantown Web suggests the following two recent resources to help guide you through the "70 | 40 | 10" career transition process:

Detailed findings from the A List Apart Web Design Survey, 2008 are available in an interactive Web format.

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Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Mass Innovation Nights | April 2009


Mass Innovation Nights allows companies large and small to showcase their new products to an audience of social media enthusiasts, mass media and potential customers. The inaugural event takes place this week.

Charter Members

Here are the Charter Members of this monthly event:

Event Details

Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2009
Time: 6:30 PM
To learn more, simply access the Mass Innovation Nights website. Check out the list of 100+ who have preregistered for this event to help determine if this FREE networking night might be valuable for you to attend. Then, submit your RSVP.
[ NOTE: You can now search more than 240 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>
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Sunday, April 05, 2009

Boston Market | Q2 2009

Spring has arrived and job opportunities for technology professionals with Web-related skills are starting to come alive. Green is the color of the month as 13 of 20 skills show an increase (green up arrow) from last month.

The list of the most in-demand Web-related technologies appears in the right-hand column. Links are also provided to job postings mentioning that skill. All jobs are located within a 50-mile radius of Boston.

This quarterly analysis expands the popular monthly Top 20 ratings. Listed below are the Top 50 most in-demand Web-related skills in Boston.

The Top 10

Here are the Top 10 most mentioned Web-related skills [number of times mentioned in job postings]:

  1. SQL [ 512 ]
  2. Oracle [ 468 ]
  3. Java [ 287 ]
  4. SQL Server [ 229 ]
  5. XML [ 212 ]
  6. JavaScript [ 158 ]
  7. C# [ 153 ]
  8. Perl [ 125 ]
  9. "Web Services" [ 125 ]
  10. Ajax [ 96 ]

If you are currently in the job market, demonstrating proficiency in several of these skills will enhance your employment opportunities. Note that all ten skills are database- and programming-related -- core skills for Web Developers.

11 Though 20

  1. JSP [ 86 ]
  2. e-commerce [ 85 ]
  3. ASP.NET [ 76 ]
  4. Flash [ 73 ]
  5. SharePoint [ 70 ]
  6. IIS [ 70 ]
  7. Apache [ 67 ]
  8. HTML + CSS [ 64 ]
  9. MySQL [ 62 ]
  10. SOAP [ 54 ]

Back end server skills (SharePoint, IIS and Apache) dominate the Second 10 along with Web development skills (JSP and ASP.NET). Web Design skills (HTML + CSS and Flash) begin to make an appearance on this list.

21 Through 30

Rounding out the Top 30 are the following 10 technologies:

  1. Python [ 53 ]
  2. PHP [ 52 ]
  3. Photoshop [ 49 ]
  4. DB2 [ 48 ]
  5. Tomcat [ 44 ]
  6. SEO [ 43 ]
  7. Visual Studio [ 42 ]
  8. Illustrator [ 40 ]
  9. Web 2.0 [ 39 ]
  10. API [ 38 ]

The programming theme continues with Python and PHP. Additional design skills (Photoshop and Illustrator) appear on this list along with more nebulous Web skills such as search engine optimization (SEO) and Web 2.0.

31 Through 40

Rounding out the Top 40 are the following 10 technologies:

  1. Social networking [ 35 ]
  2. SSL [ 34 ]
  3. VB.NET [ 31 ]
  4. DHTML [ 30 ]
  5. "Content Management System" [ 26 ]
  6. Acrobat [ 24 ]
  7. ColdFusion [ 22 ]
  8. Struts [ 21 ]
  9. SaaS [ 21]
  10. blog [ 21 ]

Popular Web 2.0 buzzwords (social networking, content management systems and blog) are less popular and fall out of the Top 30. Viable, yet more obscure, technologies also populate this Top 40 list.

41 Through 50

Rounding out the Top 50 are the following 10 technologies:

  1. InDesign [ 19 ]
  2. Ruby [ 19 ]
  3. VBScript [ 19 ]
  4. XHTML [ 18 ]
  5. wiki [ 17 ]
  6. Dreamweaver [ 16 ]
  7. jQuery [ 14 ]
  8. JSON [ 11 ]
  9. RSS [ 10 ]
  10. CS3 [ 9 ]

The hoopla around technologies such as Ruby, jQuery and JSON simply does not translate into mass-market job opportunities. Adobe Creative Suite programs such as InDesign and Dreamweaver also don't generate much excitement in the current technology job market.

NIT Candidates

Popular Web-related technologies that weren't invited to "The Big Dance" this quarter include the following:

It's not that these technologies are not valuable, it is simply that there is relatively little market demand for Web professionals with expertise in these skills compared to the Top 20 Web Technologies.

The Final Four

If you want to compete in today's Web technology marketplace, you should be proficient in at least one of the top four skills. The most versatile skill from this list is the following:

  • SQL

To round out your Final Four skill set, you should possess four additional Sweet 16 skills. Web developers should consider the following:

  • JavaScript
  • Ajax
  • ASP.NET
  • Flash

If you walk onto the court with these five skills, you can compete with any team in the country!

[ NOTE: You can now search more than 240 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>

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Monday, March 30, 2009

Sources of Hire Study | 2009

How do large companies fill open positions? The 8th annual Sources of Hire Study reveals the inner hiring practices of large organizations. This study looked at more than 300,000 openings filled by 45 large corporations.

On The Inside

Of the 300,000 full-time positions filled in 2008 here are percentages of internal vs. external candidates who filled those vacancies:

  • internal transfers & promotions | 39%
  • external sources| 61%

So, once you land a full-time position within an organization, deliver on expectations and position yourself for future opportunities. Four out of 10 of these opportunities will likely be filled by an internal candidate and this gives insiders a competitive advantage.

On The Outside

If you are on the outside looking in, the most common external sources that large organizations utilize to fill vacancies are the following:

  • referrals | 27%
  • company website | 20%
  • job boards | 12%

Here are the six most popular external websites (job boards) that provide candidates for these large employers (percentage of companies that actively worked with each site):

Even though more companies work with Monster, CareerBuilder has overtaken Monster as the top source of new hires from all job boards.

The most visible trend in 2008, according to the authors of the study, is the pressure to reduce costs attributed to the following sources:

  • third-party recruiters
  • newspapers
  • traditional job boards

A steady growth of sourcing tactics is also evident especially the following:

  • social networks
  • search engine marketing

The report suggests that the use of job boards as a source of hire has peaked and predicts that this source will diminish in the future.

LinkedIn Strategy

If social networks are gaining ground, then the top social network for large organizations is LinkedIn which offers these three tips for finding jobs through its network:

  • update your profile
  • get recommendations
  • add connections

Twitter Strategy

For a perspective on activating your job search via Twitter, access a recent BusinessWeek article, Is Twitter the Next Monster?

Conclusion

In this study more than 17,000 positions were filled from approximately 200,000 referrals. That gives external candidates a better than 1 in 12 chance of landing a job through referral. Compare that success rate with the hundreds of resumes that typically stream in via online submissions for every job and you'll understand why the report concludes as follows:

"We continue to advise job seekers to NEVER apply to a company without first networking to an employee in that firm for a referral. The difference in probability of getting “up to bat” is too large to ignore."

The 29-page full report is available for free download from CareerXRoads.

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Monday, March 23, 2009

Girls in Tech | Boston Launch Event

Girls in Tech is coming to Boston, New York, Portland (OR) and other cities.

Girls in Tech is an organization focused on women's innovative and entrepreneurial achievements in technology.

Boston Launch Event

Girls in Tech Boston cordially invites you (women only) to celebrate its official Boston launch party on Tuesday, March 24th.

Cost: FREE!

Hors d’oeuvres will be served.

To imagine the networking possibilities, check out Attendee List to see if this is a group of professionals that you might like to meet.

Details of the Boston event are available at the Girls in Tech website. Registration is required.

Other launch parties are scheduled as follows:

Social Networks

Even if an event is not scheduled for your home town, you can join the Girls in Tech movement via the following social networks:

[ NOTE: You can now search more than 240 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>

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Monday, March 16, 2009

SXSW Web Awards | 2009

More than 12,000 online voters selected this year's People's Choice Award at the SXSW Interactive Festival. And the winner is Lost Zombies.

The five day event in Austin, Texas celebrated the best minds and the brightest personalities of emerging technology.

The judges selected their favorite from the 18 finalists. And the winner is We Tell Stories.

Web Award Winners

Here are the 18 categories along with the winning website and the category definition:

Activism | Tweet Congress
Green and Non-profit websites that are striving to make the world a better place.

Amusement | Addictionary
Humor, memes and all the stuff that is weird for the sake of weird.

Art | Things I Have Learned in my Life, So Far
From traditional photography to untraditional performances, this category focuses on web-based collections of life, society and culture.

Blog | The Bygone Bureau
Sites that revolutionize the power of publishing by providing regularly updated content of a personal or professional nature.

Business | Jasmax
Sites devoted to the promotional needs, functions and services of for-profit businesses.

CSS | ProjectMiso
This category showcases sites that push the boundaries of CSS coding technology, bringing together top-notch design and content with standards compliant and accessible code.

Classic | Flickr
While the SXSW Interactive Web Awards focus on the best new Internet destinations, this category is devoted to sites that launched before January 1, 2008.

Community | Lost Zombies
Social networks and wikis that have quickly developed an extraordinarily active multi-user community and an exceptional following of users who assist with content development.

Educational Resource | The Cycle
From elementary school learning to advanced technology-related tips, these are sites that help you learn.

Experimental | We Tell Stories
These are cutting-edge and trend-setting destinations that are pushing the envelope and challenging our perceptions of the web.

Film / TV | Hulu
Sites related to actors, television, films and the film industry, as well as destinations that offer streaming video content.

Games | Why So Serious? The Dark Knight Alternate Reality Game
The online destinations that help make your life a lot more fun.

Mobile | Gigotron
Sites optimized for handheld and portable devices.

Motion Graphics | NVIDIA Speak Visual
Animations, cartoons, and other intriguing content built using applications such as Adobe / Macromedia Flash.

Music | James Zabiela
Sites related to musicians, bands, and the music industry, as well online radio and other destinations that offer streaming audio content.

Personal Portfolio | Ali Felski
The portfolios, pet projects and personal collections of individuals who are displaying their work and passions online.

Student | Modernity Spirit of Experimentation
This category is devoted exclusively to the student web designers who are refreshing this industry with new talent and new ideas.

Technical Achievement | Aviary
These are the sites that are re-inventing and re-defining the technical parameters of our online experience.

Implication

Web designers and developers can scan the Web Award Winners and the Five Finalists in each category to stimulate the flow of creative approaches to resolving current design challenges.

Then, get busy designing the next award-winning website. The cost to enter this year's competition was a mere $10 and the deadline was mid-October. Check out the Web Awards FAQ for additional details.

[ NOTE: You can now search more than 240 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>

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Sunday, March 15, 2009

Women to Watch | 2009

Who are the 10 Women to Watch in 2009 in the Boston metro area according to Mass High Tech?

Last Thursday evening 10 women were honored by their peers in tech and life sciences as "go-getters, hard working, inspirational and motivational to their peers. These up-and-comers are continuing to grow and will shape the future of their industries."

Women to Watch in 2009

Click the "in" icon next to each name to reveal the individual's LinkedIn profile.

The sixth annual event was held at The Charles Hotel in Cambridge. A summary of the proceedings is available at the Mass High Tech website. You can view photos and bios of each recipient, as well as, watch videos of their acceptance speeches at the Women to Watch 2009 website, where you can also access info on honorees from the previous five years. In addition you can nominate an influential woman for consideration for the 2010 award. The nomination process is open to women working in the technology and academic communities in New England.

[ NOTE: You can now search more than 240 articles in the Beantown Web database by using the Google search box in the right-hand column. ] >>>

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Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Boston Market | March 2009

Question:

Which has collapsed the most in the last 12 months?

  1. the stock market
  2. crude oil prices
  3. Web technology opportunities

Answer:

If you answered c. you are correct.

  • S&P 500 Index 1 | 43%
  • Light Sweet Crude 2 | 56%
  • Web technology opportunities | 66%

Top 20 Web Technologies

The technologies mentioned most often in Web-related job descriptions are listed in the right-hand column. The list has been updated for March. Opportunities have declined dramatically over the past 12 months for these skills and reflect a 66% decline in average job postings. While some technologies have rebounded in the past month, the general downward trend continues as employers exhibit caution in their hiring plans.

IT Hiring Index & Skills Report

This long-term trend is evident in the chart below.

According to latest Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index & Skills Report, chief information officers (CIOs) still expect to hire more technology workers than fire during the second quarter of 2009. Nationally, a net two percent hiring increase is expected. The New England states can expect a net five percent increase. Details can be found in a Robert Half Technology press release.

While Web-related skills are not at the top on the demand list, 39 percent of CIOs are looking for technology workers with "Web development/website design" skills.

Stay the Course

The implications are clear. Despite a significant drop in opportunities over the past 12 months, employers still expect to hire technology professionals during the next three months.

Technology workers who want to maximize their opportunities should continue to focus on developing skills listed in the Top 20 list in the right-hand column. They should also continue to expand their network of professional contacts most likely to value these skills.

The best opportunity this month to learn about the Web technology marketplace and make valuable business connections is by attending the next gathering of the Web Innovators Group.

(1) source: Yahoo! Finance
(2) source: NYSE.TV

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