. . .  you don’t realize how strong we are until you put us in hot water.”

That’s when I realized the time couldn’t be better. My PR agency, c3PR, had been doing a lot of pro bono work, which answered the “community aspect” of the competition. I was on the board of PRSA Silicon Valley, so I was giving back to my profession. And c3PR was doing well after having launched a cool new website.

But no matter how influential you think you are, it’s the equally influential people who take the time to nominate you that makes the difference. To each and every one of them I send out a big thank you. And a special thanks to Bridgelux for sponsoring two tables at the event, enabling me to surround myself with friends, family and clients. (Buy Bridgelux LEDs!)

If you’re a Silicon Valley-based businesswoman and haven’t won this honor, start now to strengthen your chances. If I had another “ten” best words of advice, it would be that in today’s networked world, “It’s not who you know – it’s who knows you!”

Just like we hope our experiences and wisdom will help inspire the next generation, Filmmakers Anne de Mare, Kirsten Kelly and Elizabeth Hemmerdinger were inspired by the extraordinary women who in 1941 went to work when their men went to war. “The Real Rosie the Riveter Project” features 48 filmed interviews conducted over the last two years. And none too soon, as these pioneering women are now in their 80s and 90s. Yet they remember their workdays like it was yesterday.

 “They don’t talk just about walking into the factory. We get their whole lives. We get stories of the Depression; of racial, class and gender divides – a story of America. I hope young people will look at these real-life Rosie interviews and gain insight and inspiration for their own lives,” said Elizabeth Hemmerdinger, who began spearheading the research project as a graduate student at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Between 8 and 16 million women were employed during World War II building ships and aircraft, manufacturing electrical equipment, and producing 6 million tons of bombs and 41 billion rounds of ammunition. They did jobs that were previously considered too dirty or physical for women. But they did what they had to do for their country and for their husbands, brothers and sons fighting overseas.

When World War II was over, the returning soldiers reclaimed their jobs and the Rosies went back to traditional women’s roles — homemakers, maids, laundry workers and waitresses — making 20 to 30 times less money than they did in the factories. How far we have come in the 70 years since Artist J. Howard Miller published the iconic “We Can Do It!” poster.

I invite you to join us at the Women in Business Conference this Saturday and view clips of the event later this month. In the meantime, I hope you’ll watch the videos of the Real Rosies – our mothers and grandmothers who inspired generations.

Apparently the Roman calendar measured months by the phases of the moon. During March, May, July and October, the full moon always fell on the fifteenth. When Caesar died on March 15, it really was the ides. But since our Gregorian calendar is based on earth’s orbit around the sun rather than the moon’s orbit around the earth, the ides can happen on any date. This year, it was on March 8. And there won’t be another full moon on March 15 until 2052.

Point is, it pays to do a little research before issuing warnings – or news. Prior to sending out a news release for our clients, we check out what else has been said or announced on the subject. Sometimes we find an angle that makes our client’s new product or service more interesting and newsworthy. Research also helps ensure the news is really “news” – not last week’s event, like the ides was this year. Fortunately, in 2013 the ides of March is on the 27^th, giving us a dozen extra days to beware.

Have you ever been really sick? Or known someone really sick? It’s complicated and it doesn’t always end positively. There are ups and downs along the way – little victories, defeats, signs of both warning and hope. Typically it works better when patient, patient’s family, doctor, and hospital team work in partnership. Consulting each other regularly, setting plans and goals together, sharing information openly, and reacting to specific events quickly and decisively. Personally, I’ve seen wins and losses. My mother has survived colon cancer – I will be eternally grateful to her carers. Sadly, my father didn’t and passed away. Same hospital both times, same medical team tending to both. I don’t harbor a grudge. I didn’t freak out on the oncologist who presented the final “there is no hope” news. We were partners. They did an outstanding job; their team and research were best in class. This stuff is complicated. So is e-discovery. Only e-discovery hasn’t woken up yet to the need for partnership. Why not? Because of procurement teams inside corporations who don’t get it. Because of corporation’s litigation teams who lose their nerve when things don’t go perfectly and have to play the CYA game. Because litigation attorneys in law firms tend to be reactive rather than to understand and course-correct. Partnership in e-discovery will lead to great innovation, process building, learning, better solutions, and better outcomes. Corporations and law firms can be self-serving by pushing the partnership agenda, not combating it.

This post first appeared at http://www.sfldata.com/2012/02/healthcare-services-vs-e-discovery

This same concept can be applied to marketing challenges where we need to come up with a solution without being able to see all aspects of the problem. Looking at the situation from a different viewpoint helps us “think” around blind corners.

This high-powered technique was created by Tom O’Leary and described in his Pick the Brain blog. The underlying premise is that by imagining how others would solve a problem, you can better determine the most effective way to move forward.

It’s easy – you can do this in less than ten minutes. Think of three people who are as different from you as possible. They can be famous people, or people you know, or even 100% stereotypical, politically incorrect characters you make up. Create an index card for each one with a photo or caricature on one side and a list of their personality traits, mannerisms, habits, achievements, attitudes, etc. on the other.

When faced with a conundrum, pull out your index cards and ask each person, “What would you do?” Then write down the first three things that come to mind. When you finish, you’ll have nine possible solutions.

“Simply because you are attempting to answer the question on behalf of someone very different from you, you will come up with some remarkable solutions that would not naturally occur in your thoughts,” says O’Leary. “Then all you have to do is decide which of the suggestions make sense when applied to your real world problem, and put the solutions to work.”

Want to try it with me? Next month I’ll tell you about my three characters and if they helped me think around corners. I’d love to hear if this technique works for you.

The energy of a new year often lingers through January, especially when we reflect on how far we’ve come and the opportunities that await us. ION’s eighth annual status report of women directors and executive officers of public companies in 14 U.S. regions, titled “Gender Imbalance in the Boardroom: Opportunities to Change Course,” summarizes this nicely. Published last month, the report recalls ION’s new organizational friendships, a fresh proxy toolkit and much more. You can download the full-color PDF or request printed copies to hand out at your organization’s next event.

For the first time, the release of ION’s report coincided with Catalyst’s release of their annual census on the number of women on Fortune 500 boards. This helped us get national attention in publications such as Forbes. Look for ION to form more mutually beneficial relationships in 2012 with like-minded organizations.

With a reach that exceeds more than 10,000 women nationwide, ION is prepared to raise the bar when it comes to advocating for gender diversity in the boardroom and executive suites. Can we count on your support? The ION website’s Events page is an excellent place to start. Check out “Unlocking a Source of Growth: Women in the Boardroom” at the end of January in Sacramento, Calif. and “Executive Presence: Being Perceived as a Leader” in Atlanta in February. In April, there’s “Roadmap to the Boardroom” in Baltimore and The Conference Board’s “2012 Women’s Leadership Conference” in New York. Most of these events are open to both ION members and non-members alike interested in learning more about what gender diversity means for their industry, organization and career.

As we continue to strive for a balance of patience and fervor for our cause, I’ll leave you with this question: What will you do to increase gender diversity in the boardroom in 2012?

This post first appeared at http://www.ionwomen.org/increasing-boardroom-gender-diversity-2012/

The 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada was a record breaker for attendance with more than 3,000 exhibitors and 150,000 attendees. Among the crowds, I noticed several exhibits dedicated to home health monitoring – with an exceptionally strong presence for blood pressure, glucose level and cardiac condition devices. Such is the digital age of wireless communication.

Most of these manufacturers view air quality as a major factor in overall health. In fact, monitoring volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is currently under consideration by many. If VOCs trigger breathing difficulties in your home, or even in your car, we have a series of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) sensors to track levels of these potentially harmful compounds.

Another hot topic at CES was micro-electronic mechanical systems, or MEMS. An event hosted by the MEMS Industry Group delved into the capabilities of MEMS in mobility, user interface control and multiband mobile phone design. “Connecting the Real World with the Digital World: Harnessing the Power of MEMS” featured a panel of both large and small MEMS manufacturers. The panelists noted that cost, size and power consumption have hindered the broad integration of sensors in consumer products. While the capabilities of sensors to meet practical needs has been proven in automotive applications, it was the advent of smart phones that brought high-volume implementation of MEMS devices to new levels and negated the prior barriers to use.

Speaking of smart phones, there are currently an estimated 9,000 iPhone apps dedicated just to health. One panelist said, “Healthcare is huge. Navigation, interconnectivity for automotive and home automation are big. Connectivity is nothing without information.” As a MEMS manufacturer, AppliedSensor is responding to the demands of mobility in consumer product sensor development with micro-machined MOS sensors that operate on very low power, are miniaturized to less than 2 mm x 2 mm and are made in the very high volumes required for adaption into consumer products.

Did you attend CES? What were the highlights of your experience?

This post first appeared at http://www.appliedsensor.com/blog/?p=212

Tip #1. Take care of your body.

Tip #2 Take care of your mind.
Forget multitasking – it actually makes you less efficient. Instead, focus on each task at hand and master the art of deep breathing. Filling your lungs with oxygen helps your brain function more efficiently. (I put a BREATHE! Post-it® on my monitor.) To keep your mind sharp, read things totally unrelated to your industry. (Articles in the Scientific American e-newsletter have inspired marketing ideas.) Step out of your comfort zone to do things you’ve never done before. (So many choices, so little time.)

Tip #3 Take care of your marketing.
Or let us do it for you. But please don’t ignore it, because right now your competition could be courting your customers. It’s easier to make marketing a priority when you see metrics of what could be and how we can make it happen. If marketing isn’t your priority, or you simply can’t find the time to get it done, then “concentrate on what you do best and outsource the rest” to c3PR. The most productive marketers are those who are passionate about their work, and as Yoda would say, “Passionate, we are!” Here’s to a prosperous 2012.

Did you hear the news? SFL Data was recently selected as one of the “Top 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies” in the San Francisco Bay Area for 2011 by the San Francisco Business Times.We had a blast at the gala awards ceremony, where we were honored for demonstrating a 71.3% increase in revenue growth from 2008 to 2010, ranking 61st out of 100 Bay Area companies. Publisher Mary Huss said, “What a credit to these outstanding companies that they have shown such noteworthy growth in the years from 2008 to 2010 – years that many companies were thrilled to stay flat.”

So what does our fast growth mean for you? It proves that more and more Fortune 500 companies and AmLaw 250 firms are recognizing the advantages of using fixed-price e-discovery managed service to get defensible results, reduced costs and greater control without having to build the function internally. To learn more about it, register now for “e-Discovery Data Collections in 2011 and Beyond,” taking place on November 9, 2011 from 9:30-10:30 a.m. PST.

This post first appeared at http://www.sfldata.com/2011/11/sfl-datas-growing-fast

To measure the success of your social media program, it’s important to use qualitative measurement to complement the quantitative. That’s because social media is about more than sales. It’s about conversation, engagement, influence, relationships and sentiment. But that doesn’t mean that social media won’t improve the bottom line. Over time, your company’s ability to listen for need and respond will inevitably contribute to growth.

Considering that the ratio of online to print media is now the exact opposite of what it was five years ago, it’s more important than ever to include social media in your marketing efforts. And like PR, social media is a process. It takes time to build a successful program. Seek relationships rather than followers and good results are sure to follow.  

For real-word  examples of how other companies are using seven indicators to measure social media success, read my full-length article: Beyond Hits: Seven New Social Media Measurement Metrics.