NEOSA "Connecting Business and Technology"

It had to happen. As coffee houses, hotels and savvy business owners increasingly make wi-fi available to customers and visitors, somebody had to realize the potential in creating a comfortable, highly functional place people could come and conduct business when they're away from the office.

A smart group of Northeast Ohio entrepreneurs has done just that. Read all about it this new hotspot: The Business Center . . .

But wait. While while you're at it, I was invited recently to begin publishing a blog for the hot new group in town called Capitalist Cleveland. So I'm going to send you there to read my latest entry about The Business Center:

Check out Barbara Payne's blog on Capitalist Cleveland.

Chris Seper is doing a week-long series in the Plain Dealer about the state of local software in Northeast Ohio. Go here to follow the series:

http://www.cleveland.com/tech

The first article appeared Sunday. It was a general overview and featured NEOSA prominently. I even got a call from someone who had read the article, then found this blog.

The rest of the articles will feature specific companies:

SUNDAY: Finding staff and money are the big hurdles.

TUESDAY: BrandMuscle Inc.

WEDNESDAY: TMW Systems Inc.

THURSDAY: PreEmptive Solutions Inc.

FRIDAY: Datatrak International Inc.

SATURDAY: Flashline Inc.

On Thursday March 3rd, the U.S. Secret Service, Cleveland Electronic Crimes Task Force will host the Spring Northern Ohio Information Technology Roundtable Meeting (NOITR).

The subject is a discussion regarding current trends in the areas of direct and indirect network attacks. Presentations will cover online auction frauds and scams, eastern European hacking, ATM fraud, bank fraud, virus, mal-ware and spy-ware development. We will have three industry experts from around the country speaking on their respective topics.

Speakers:
Mr. Jack Christin, Esq. - eBay (Online auctions) Mr. Keith Peer - CEO/President of Central Command Inc. (Virus Trends) Mr. Jake Jacobson - Mitre Corporation (Eastern European Hacking)

Looks interesting - great speakers.

Go here for meeting details. NEOSA is a member of the Roundtable, as are many NEOSA member companies.

Great blogging session the other day! The weather was terrible -- yet nearly 50 people showed up for it. (I barely made it myself, the drive from Medina to downtown Cleveland took so long given the road conditions.)

Each of the panelists was able to offer unique insights about business blogging. Some of the highlights were:

RSS makes reading blogs convenient, because you can read many of them in one place. But RSS is not ready to replace email yet, because you still need to prompt people to visit your blog.

Blogs are excellent for establishing high search engine position, because they tend to get a lot of incoming links.

Write about something for which you have passion. Passion for your subject matter always shows through.

Top ways to promote a blog include linkage to/from other blogs, notifying the mainstream media about important posts, and syndicating content by having your content appear on other blogs and sites.

Don't miss the map showing how the Northeast Ohio blogs are networked -- very illuminating.

You can find additional references to the session on Brewed Fresh Daily, Tinbasher, Chat Room LIVE, Small Business CEO, Blog for Business, and Small Business Trends.

This place is dusty with cobwebs! Time to throw open the windows, air it out, and keep it up to date!

OK, so let's start getting it up to date with this notice:

On January 19, 2005 I will be moderating an event in Cleveland, Ohio: "Blogs and RSS: Profiting From the New Personal Publishing Tools."

"In this session, a panel of experienced bloggers shares their secrets for how businesses get real results -- with measurable ROI -- using blogs as part of their marketing strategies. Includes discussions about using blogs to market products, advertising on blogs, using RSS (news feeds), repurposing blog content for email newsletters, using blogs to obtain high search engine rankings, and using blogs for business networking among your target audience. You'll also receive a map of the network of Northeast Ohio blogs -- who links to whom -- and how the network can be used as a marketing vehicle."

I'll be moderating a terrific panel, including these Northeast Ohio bloggers:

George Nemeth - brewedfreshdaily.com

Eric Olsen - blogcritics.org

Barbara Payne - blogforbusiness.com and biomednews.org

Steve Rucinski - smbceo.com and smbtrendwire.com

I'm thrilled to announce we also managed to snag Denise Polverine, Editor in Chief of Cleveland.com. Denise and Cleveland.com are pioneering some truly innovative territory with blogs. Cleveland.com is an Advance Internet site, and it just goes to show what having a famous blogging president at the corporate helm can foster.

We're going to do something else that I haven't seen done at blogging sessions, but which I highly recommend. Valdis Krebs will be preparing one of his fascinating network maps showing how Northeast Ohio blogs are connected with one another. It's something that Valdis, George Nemeth and I have talked about doing for a while now, and I am glad it is finally coming about. If the map does what I think it will, it's going to illustrate how powerful blogs are as networking tools.

I hope to see you there.

UPDATE JANUARY 14, 2005: I am also grinning because Chris Seper will be attending! Chris is the technology reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and writes a vibrant must-read blog called Chat Room Live (see our PowerBlog Review), which happens to reside over at Cleveland.com.

NEOSA, the Center for Regional Economic Issues (REI), and The SBC Foundation present the Future Forum, focusing on healthcare and technology.

If you haven't been to a NEOSA/REI Future Forum, they are very interesting and interactive (audience is encouraged to ask questions). They focus on the impact of new and disruptive technologies and trends, and what they mean for the future.

The upcoming program will be moderated by Dr. Michael Schwartz, president of Cleveland State University, with the following panelists:

• David Beach, Executive Director, EcoCityCleveland


• Dr. Stan Gerson, Director, Ireland Cancer Center


• Dr. Lawrence Krauss, Chairman, Department of Physics, CWRU


• Tom Zenty, President and CEO, University Hospitals Healthcare System

Date and Time: November 11, 2004, 4 to 7 p.m.

Place: Myers University Club, 3813 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland

Cost: $25.

Registration: http://www.neosa.org/events/list.asp?Event_Id=104

On Thursday, October 7, 2004 I will be giving a presentation on RFID (radio frequency identification) to a group of University of Akron students. The group is called SITE -- Students for Information Technology and eBusiness.

I've posted the RFID presentation here for anyone who may be interested.

Too many of the ninety-one paying exhibitors at today's Business and Technology Expo today were disappointed--severely disappointed--at the number of attendees. Amazing to find that individuals were actually there soliciting for the exhibitors to attend the Akron Business Conference next month! How enterprising of them...and how different from the promotion done for the Convention Center show.

We'd like to ask the readers of this blog how many of you heard about this "Office Max Business & Technology Expo" show? If you did, how did you hear? If you heard, but decided not to attend, please tell us why. If you did not hear but would have liked to, please let us know that, too.

Not enough time to make a formal feedback form, but if you have a minute, please email your responses to a ReallyGoodFreelanceWriter.com.

Thanks!

We are very proud to introduce a new service to the tech and business community in Northeast Ohio.

We're unveiling the service today at the Midwest Business & Technology Expo being held today and tomorrow at the Cleveland Convention Center. The service offers fast, professional solutions for those annoying, irritating, puzzling writing glitches you run into when you're writing that great marketing piece, executive presentation, speech or other critical communication.

Top-quality solutions in little, affordable bytes... What a concept. It's called:
WriteBytes4You (c)

Check it out. And stop wracking your brain over those small but important writing challenges!

Seeking feedback from subscribers to this blog!

Despite our greenhorn status as techies we've actually managed to create the ability to subscribe to two blogs that you may find of interest. One is Blog for Business and it's all about blogging and business and covers topics like customer service, leadership, etc. Owners of small and medium-size businesses will also find a special rating for many of the posts as to how relevant the topic is for them. It's called the Small- to Midsize Business Index (SMBI).

And while I'm at it, I'll also announce the founding of another blog called BioMedNews.org. This one is labeled "a daily look at bioscience developments that impact business, higher education, government and economic development." Since bioscience is such an incredibly hot area of business development around the world these days, you may find business ideas of interest--even if you're not intrigued by the fascinating notes and observations about what's going on in medical science today.

If you take a look at either of these blogs, please email your comments to the publisher. We're always looking to improve.

On Thursday, August 26th at 6:00 PM, Software Answers (a NEOSA member) will be presenting a free "Closer Look" technology seminar on "Developing Secure .NET Applications" at its facility in Fairlawn (I-77 & SR-18).

The event is no charge, but seating is limited and you must register in advance. Register here.

At our January 2004 meeting, Jim Barlow, President of Western Reserve Controls, gave a great presentation on holonics. For any of you who missed it, the presentation is posted over at the Western Reserve Controls website.

The August 16th edition of Crain's Cleveland Business features an article on holonics (requires subscription) and how it could help revitalize Northeast Ohio manufacturing. Jim Barlow is quoted extensively, as is our own Dennis Adamkiewicz. For those who don't have a Crain's subscription, here is a short snippet from the article:

High-tech ministers such as Jim Barlow, president of Western Reserve Controls Inc., and Dennis Adamkiewicz, chief operating officer of Quantum Electronic Development, along with others, are working to capture the interest and money needed to put years of research into application.

If implemented, holonic controls would be the first major change in automation in 40 years. Developers liken it to a change as big as the switch from mainframe computers to the Internet.

So, just what are holonic controls? Simply put, the controls are a production concept. They are placed in computers to communicate intelligently with other devices involved in the manufacturing process so that production can be managed automatically. Holonic controls allow the efficient operation of complex production while decreasing its costs.

I had a request to create a newsfeed (RSS feed) for this blog that was something other than the ATOM format. Apparently some newsreaders don't accommodate ATOM.

I finally was able to do it with an awesome service over at FeedBurner.

To use the new RSS feed format, right click on the FeedBurner chicklet, and copy shortcut and paste into your newsreader program:

The FeedBurner chicklet also will have a permanent home over on the right sidebar under "Weblog Information."

Also, I've created the following FeedBurner Headline Animator (also apears on the right sidebar) which shows the 5 most recent headlines from this site. If you want to include the headlines on your site, feel free. The easiest way is to copy the image and paste it wherever you want it:



FeedBurner is a neat service and has lots of other useful features, including some "hacks" for developers who want to personalize their feeds and their blogs.

We are back from our summer hiatus and raring to get going again!

NEOSA is off to a great start with a wonderful line-up of events. In the greater Akron area our first event of the season will be "Doing Business with the Government: an Abbreviated Who, What and How of Government Procurement."

If your company has ever considered selling technology products, software and/or services to the government, but isn't sure where to start, then don't miss this. Our speaker is Keith Tarbett, head of the Kent Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC).

When: Thursday, August 19, 2004
Where: Kent State University School of Business
Time: Registration 7:30 AM; Program 8:00 - 10:00 AM

Register here.

The merger between COSE and NEOSA is now official. It was ratified by a membership vote at the August 4th Memeber meeting.

This opens up a whole new chapter for NEOSA. NEOSA will now have access to greater member benefits than ever before. And COSE members will now have access to technology expertise that they greatly need.

With the merger, NEOSA will become one of the larger regional technology organizations in the U.S.

For Jim's PowerPoint presentation delivered at the meeting, click here.

So sorry to have missed hearing Dennis Adamkiewicz on how to get your SBIR grant. Thanks, Anita, for posting the slide show.

Besides the importance of networking (you know, the old "it ain't what you know, it's who you know"), be sure that you get your grant application written in such a way that the people who read it will know the human side of why your idea is good. No matter how well educated you are, you're still a human being. And that means--even if we don't like to admit it--we're all a mass of feelings.

Candace Pert, a research scientist who first discovered the existence of neuropeptides--says  not only are they everywhere in our bodies--they are also the seat of our emotions. Just as our DNA resides on our chromosomes, our feelings ride around embedded in the neuropeptides in all of our tissues.

People respond to their emotions. Make sure you write your grant application with that in mind. Those kinds of grants have been known to get funded even without having an "in" at a funding source.

Dennis Adamkiewicz P.E., COO of Quantum Electronics Development, was our featured speaker at this morning's NEOSA-Akron meeting. He gave a street-wise, interactive talk on "Grant writing: how to successfully get that grant you need."

One of several important points he emphasized: network heavily and develop a relationship with key people in the agency you are applying to.

Dennis suggests that anyone looking for more information on getting government technology grants (SBIR and STTR) check out this comprehensive website: www.sbirworld.com.

Dennis's presentation can be viewed here: Grant me a Wish Presentation.ppt

Dennis also provided two other extremely useful presentations, courtesy of the Ohio Department of Development, which you can view here:

SBIR Presentation.ppt

Technology Brief Region 8.ppt

Hey NEOSA members, if you are looking to augment your staff resources with some very affordable student talent, check out TechStudents.net.

Techstudents.net is "an electronic forum connecting skilled technology students eager to gain real world experience with businesses that are in-demand of affordable technology resources." Sounds like a good source of student interns and extra project-based help.

NEOSA and COSE (Council of Smaller Enterprises) are getting together! And it is great news, I think.

Craintech yesterday reported on the proposed merger of NEOSA and the Greater Cleveland Partnership. Both Boards have approved the merger, but NEOSA members have to ratify the change through a vote in August.

What will this mean to NEOSA members? A lot of good stuff:

• For one thing it means that NEOSA members will automatically become COSE members, giving NEOSA members access to COSE's nationally-recognized health insurance programs and other benefits.


• For another, it means that NEOSA will grow its membership base instantly by about 75%. At the same time, COSE's reach is also increased.


• The merger also secures ongoing financial stability for NEOSA, which had lost a chunk of state funding last year.

One question those of you in the Akron/Canton/Medina/Kent areas may have is: does this mean NEOSA's mission becomes Cleveland-based, since it will be part of the "Greater Cleveland Partnership"?

The answer is "no." The mission remains the same: to represent the tech community throughout Northeast Ohio. For instance, COSE represents the greater Northeast Ohio region, not just the Cleveland area.

Craintech has an article (with a strange title) here:

Also, I am reproducing the full text of the press release as follows:


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PRESS RELEASE

NEOSA is pleased to announce that as of Aug. 5, 2004, the organization will merge with the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) and the Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP). To affect this change, NEOSA will become a council of the Greater Cleveland Partnership and will operate under a special operating agreement with COSE (which is also a council of the GCP). The merger provides both long-term sustainability for NEOSA and an opportunity to better serve our members at the same time.

NEOSA' s relationship with COSE is not new. Since its formation in 1998, NEOSA has worked closely with COSE to address the technology needs of COSE members, provide access to NEOSA members to select COSE programming and to advance the technology agenda in the region.

By joining together we can do more -- providing expanded services, deeper networking opportunities and greater reach to potential customers.

NEOSA exclusively serves the tech community, while COSE has a number of tech company members but serves all area businesses. However, the organizations have much in common:

Both organizations are member-focused and member-driven.
Both organizations concentrate on growing their members' business --with directories, networking events and educational programming.
Both organizations serve as a "go to" resource for their members.
Both organizations have solid reputations within the community -- often acting as a collective voice for their constituencies.

With so many non-profit organizations working toward so many different objectives, this new relationship can take some of the confusion out of the landscape and make for easier access to these important services.

Small business owners often have a hard time keeping up on how best to use technology to increase productivity, reduce costs and build wealth. With the resources of NEOSA, COSE will be better able to serve as a resource for information on technology issues, initiatives, training and organizations throughout the region. Likewise, NEOSA members will receive access to all of COSE's resources to help them grow their companies.

Consider this relationship in terms of marrying a horizontal (functional) business development service with a vertical (industry-specific) focus -- COSE provides services to grow all businesses and NEOSA is a silo for the IT Industry. Joined, both organizations -- and more importantly, members of both organizations -- benefit.

· NEOSA can offer programming specifically tailored to IT companies to COSE's tech company constituency.

· Programs designed to introduce technology to the broader COSE business community now have a broader base of expertise on which to draw.

· Established COSE programs and services offer benefits to NEOSA companies -- helping them manage their health insurance and employee benefit needs, as well as business development issues.

The Boards of Directors of NEOSA, COSE and GCP have met and enthusiastically approved plans for the merger. NEOSA staff and Board members are excited to join with COSE.

"We sincerely believe that this merger represents both long-term sustainability for NEOSA and an outstanding opportunity to better serve our members at the same time," said Jim Cookinham, NEOSA President. "This can help us increase the scale and impact of our efforts to serve our members and to grow the IT industry in Northeast Ohio."

"With this exciting new relationship with NEOSA, COSE is better positioned to serve as a resource and access point on technology issues for our membership and continue help advance the technology agenda in the region," said Steve Millard, Chief Operating Officer of the GCP and Executive Director of COSE.

Our next monthly meeting of NEOSA Akron-Canton will be Thursday, June 10. This one is going to be really interesting, so be sure not to miss it.

Dennis Adamkiewicz P.E., COO of Quantum Electronics Development, will be giving an interactive talk on "Grant writing: how to successfully get that grant you need." Dennis has a lot of experience with grant requests and will discuss the basics of grant writing for small businesses (organizations with less than 500 employees).

We are holding the meeting at Canal Place in Akron. It's a fitting location. Canal Place has the highest concentration of tech companies in one place in Akron.

Jonathan Breger and I have coordinated this meeting with Alice Hall, the Canal Place Manager. We're using this as an opportunity to spread the word about NEOSA to the Canal Place tenants. We've also invited tenants from the Akron Incubator next door.

See you there!

Thursday, June 10
7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
At Canal Place - 5th Floor Captain's Quarters
Building 10, 520 South Main Street, Akron, Ohio

Admission: FREE.

Please register in advance here.

Scott Kovatch, a java runtime engineer with Apple, says in his Cupertino, Ohio blog that he would like access to a better breakdown of IT industry demographics in Northeast Ohio:

"NEOSA tends to lump all software development together, which is fine as far as it goes. I'd like to see a breakdown of companies who develop software and hardware as their business vs. the IT consultancy shops and other service-oriented or manufacturing companies that hire computer people."

Scott makes a great point about understanding the different kinds of IT companies and IT departments in our area. The IT industry itself is maturing. As is typical for a maturing industry, it naturally breaks itself down into increasing specialization and niche focus. As the industry becomes more specialized, each kind of IT company (or IT department of a corporation) is going to be motivated by different considerations.

I know that NEOSA (Jim and I and the other folks at NEOSA) definitely recognize these kinds of differences -- we talk about them all the time. The NEOSA IT industry directory captures information about these kinds of categories.

But being relatively new volunteering with NEOSA, I have to confess to not being entirely knowledgeable about what data is publicly available and in what form. I'll have to educate myself further and then report back on this blog.

On Thursday June 3rd, the U.S. Secret Service, Cleveland Electronic Crimes Task Force will host the Summer Northern Ohio Information Technology Roundtable Meeting (NOITR).

Sounds like this one is going to be really interesting:

• Gregory White, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio will be talking about "The Patriot Act; Cyber-Security from the Legal Perspective."


• Andrew Macpherson from the Technical Analysis Group (TAG) at Dartmouth College will be talking about "Homeland Security; What our Adversaries Know."

Moderated by Chris Thompson, formerly Editor of Craintech and now with Edward Howard Company.

Register here.

NEOSA is a member of the Roundtable, as are several NEOSA member companies.

The Best of all Worlds event on Tuesday evening exceeded our expectations. Thanks to all who attended, spoke at the event, worked to make it happen, or sponsored it.

This was a first time event partnering with the Greater Akron Chamber using an experimental format, and we got a very positive response. We used a variation of the "speed networking" format -- the attendees moved from speaker to speaker in 15 minute intervals. This kept energy levels high.

Not only did the event serve as a showcase of the wide range of high tech and related services being created and available in Northeast Ohio, but it was also a prime opportunity to create new relationships and gain new customers.

After all, business is what these networking events are all about. This event furthered our primary mission here at NEOSA to connect business and technology (i.e, connect buyers of tech with sellers of tech).

From the emails that have been coming in, lots of business was conducted at the event, and more will be done as a result of contacts made at the event. Remember, support local business -- buy NEO.

Technology people don't get injured too often at work. But there's a lesson to be learned from the more physically challenging industries. Work injury rates are down in the U.S. Some attribute this to increased spending on training, inspections, safety programs, etc. But a local company called Growth Dynamics Corporation thinks there could be another reason: the impoverished economy.

The longer your employees are on the job, the less likely they are to suffer work-related injuries, according to the article in their recent newsletter. It goes on to say that the rate of turnover in employment has been very low with the loss of jobs in the U.S. So is that the real cause?

Interesting supposition, and for tech companies the idea that people might flee when things loosen up shouldn't be swept under the rug. It's nice to see this kind of statistical logic to support the notion that it's generally a good thing for tech companies in any economy to think about what they need to do to hold on to their valuable employees. Read more on the subject here.

Please join us on Tuesday, May 25 for a really interesting networking event.

Called the "Best of all Worlds," it is being presented in partnership with the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce.

This event is unique because it is bringing together several different technology sectors (polymers, biotech and IT) and the business users of technology from the Akron area to meet and network. Come and hear:

Jon Park - Westfield Bank “Online banking for your business”

Robert Steinberg - Productivity by RFID “RFID: what it will mean for business”

Christopher O'Neil – FedEx Custom Critica “Optimizing your freight”

Dr. Scott Rickert - Nanofilm “Nanotech for the future of business”

Christina Vacca - CHS Business Associates “Biosciences go-to- market"

Andrew Holland - Interactive Media Group “Keeping web content evergreen”

Dave Hennie - Cisco “Going wireless in your business”

Brad Bowers - Casnet “Managing documents in your organization”

It will be held on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 from 5:25 - 7:30 pm. Locale is the Holiday Inn Akron/Fairlawn (I-77 and Rt. 18 area).

Participating organizations include NEOBio and OH!Polymer.

Register here for this great event.

Today's panel gave excellent search engine optimization tips at the NEOSA monthly meeting held at CSU. Lots of great information! And everybody who wanted one got a $50 certificate for Overture pay-per-click advertising.

Jan Limpach of Keyphrase-Marketing.com put together a list of search engine optimization resources for the NEOSA event.

Chris Seper blogged the event here. He also gave the event a score of 5.5. I'm not quite sure how he came up with that, but he says it is a "pretty good score."

On Thursday, May 13, the President of the Israeli Chambers of Commerce will be speaking on "Emerging Business Opportunities in Israel's High Tech Industry for Ohio Companies."

The talk, presented by the Ohio-Israeli Chamber of Commerce, will take place at the Beachwood Hilton, 8:00 - 9:30 am. Hahn Loeser Parks is sponsoring the breakfast.

There is a growing movement to attract Israeli high tech companies (biomedical and IT) to locate their US operations in Ohio, including Northeast Ohio. After all, these companies want a US base of operations. Why not have it here in Ohio?

You can see the obvious potential -- more jobs in Ohio. It also offers opportunities for local companies to become distributors and resellers for the Israeli companies.

Reservations are required no later than Tuesday, May 11th. Cost for the breakfast is: $20 Chamber members/ $25 Non-members. Please RSVP with credit card number to: oicc@aol.com or by phone 216-621-6832.

Thanks, Paul Elliott, for working out a sweet promotion with Overture. Attendees at the upcoming May 12 Search Engine Optimization Conference will receive a $50 credit certificate for Overture clicks.

Sounds like a reason to attend, huh? Hurry, space is limited.

See post dated May 3 for more details.

Dave Schuellerman, a NEOSA member and CEO of the Lineo Group, is offering a great Buy One, Get One Free special.

Now through June 2004, Lineo will write news releases and product releases for new clients at buy-one-get-one pricing.

Sounds like a great deal from another NEOSA member! For details, email Dave at dave@lineogroup.com.

Check out this upcoming panel discussion on e-marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). Colette and Jim at NEOSA have assembled a great panel:

• Paul Elliott - E-Commerce Business Development Manager, Things Remembered and President, Cleveland Search Engine Optimization



• David Goebel - President, Goebel Group



• Frank Griffith - CEO & Founder, Griffith Holdings, Inc



• Jan Limpach - President, Keyphrase-Marketing.com



• Sage Lewis - President, SageRock.com

It takes place on May 12, 2004, from 7:30 - 9:30 AM at the Cleveland-area NEOSA monthly meeting.

Location: Cole Center, Cleveland State University.

Cost to Attend: NEOSA & COSE members - free; non-members - $30

Don't miss the opportunity to hear from these expert panelists! I'll be there too (I'm the moderator, which means I get to ask the questions of this fine group).

Register here.

UPDATE MAY 5: Attendees will receive a $50 certificate for Overture clicks, thanks to a deal Paul Elliott worked out! Don't miss this one.

By popular demand (well, OK, it was just one person who asked), I have added a Bloglet email notification feature.

Look to the links on the right side -- where it says "Subscribe for Updates." Simply insert your email address and click "subscribe." You will receive an email each time this blog is updated.

George Nemeth has this to say about his chat with the student NEOSA chapter at John Carroll University -- it's bound to make you chuckle:

"I got the chance to talk with JCU students about life after college. I don't think they knew what hit them."

Crain's and Craintech are putting together this year's edition of "Who's Who in Technology."

Click here for details on how to submit a nomination. Deadline for nominations is April 30, 2004.

P.S., remember, you can always nominate yourself. And it would be great to have more people from Akron and Canton in this year's Who's Who list.