Add Weather to Your Site

Ok, this is just for fun for most sites, but for municipalities and tourist sites, it's very useful info for visitors. Weatherroom has a free link you can add to your site. So easy. Here's the current weather on Bainbridge Island (constantly updated via a live feed):


98110 Conditions and Forecast

PhotoStamp is Back!

I was totally bummed when I learned that the US Post Office pulled the plug on their PhotoStamps program. There I was with my mini pictures of pets, friends and family, only to have my dreams dashed. Thankfully, I was reacquainted with Craig Swanson of CreativeTechs (they're fantastic and even sent a brave soul from Seattle to Bainbridge to salvage all of my files from my harddrive after it was struck down with the autostart virus - I can't recommend them highly enough).

Naturally, I checked out their web site, blog and signed up for their newsletter and that's where I found the happy news that the PhotoStamps program is back. Forget the easy birthday, wedding and anniversary gifts, think of the branding possibilities - where will it end? Your logo on every stamp.

Posting a Job or Looking for a Job?

Thanks to Jennifer Smith the recruiting Coordinator at f5 (they're looking for a number of employees by the way from project managers to programmers), I was reminded of craigslist as a place to post job openings for FREE (it's also a great place for freelancers to find work). America's Job Bank is another site that allows free job postings. A site with a slightly more focused readership is Digital Eve, they allow free postings as well.

Employees How to Keep 'Em

Few people would argue that good employees are critical to an organization's success. However, for many employers it's a mystery why some employees are motivated, productive and engaged while others are looking for jobs elsewhere. The answer, it seems, is how they're managed according to Sharon Jordan-Evans is a prominent leadership consultant and certified executive coach. Her clients include Fortune 500 companies such as Boeing and Southwest Airlines.

She's co-authored two best selling books, Love 'Em or Lose 'Em: Getting Good People to Stay and from the employee's perspective, Love It, Don't Leave It: 26 Ways to Get What You Want at Work easy-to-implement strategies for increasing job satisfaction.



I heard Sharon Jordan-Evans speak at an Association for Women in Computing meeting in Seattle recently. She made the point that most employees are not motivated by money - everyone needs to be paid fairly, but challenging work seems to be the main reason employees like their work and stay in a particular job. Also, most employers don't show appreciation until it's too late or ask the big questions until the exit interview (e.g., what would make you leave this job?).

Great Places to Stay on Business or Vacation

I was shocked to find out that some of my clients and friends had not heard of TripAdvisor or Vacation Rental By Owner. Just a quick note on both of these web sites.

Trip Advisor has the best reviews from recent guests that usually include good tips on which rooms to request and nearby restaurants. On my recent trip to the Flash Forward conference I read reviews on the recommended hotel (Holiday Inn) and quickly decided to find another. Thanks to Trip Advisor, I stayed at The Orchard Hotel and it lived up to its rave reviews. (Normally, I stay at Kimpton Hotels, mainly because I love the Alexis in Seattle, but Trip Advisor guests warned that many of the Kimpton Hotels in San Fran were worn or poorly run.)

NOTE: All Kimpton Hotels have the Trust for Public Land as one of our EarthCare partners. In June and July, a portion of every dollar spent at a Kimpton Hotel will be donated to their Parks for People initiative, a program dedicated to creating parks, gardens, and open spaces in cities and suburbs across America.

If you'd like to rent a house or an apartment for an extended stay, Vacation Rental By Owner is great. We've rented homes for vacation across the US and in Europe.