Tech After Five

We are about to have our first live event since the lockdown. Are you ready for that?

Let's talk about what it means to be in person, and how we might all get ready for that.

Phil Yanov and Scott Pfeiffer address your questions about live events in this episode of the Tech After Five podcast.

Hello friends... I know it's been a while since we've talked.

You've got questions. Good questions about what is going on with our events, with all events.

What comes next? Will we be in person again? When? Where will we be? What's changed?

Will there be new cities?

Well, Phil Yanov and Scott Pfeiffer address those questions and more in this episode of the Tech After Five podcast.

You see other people with great testimonials and wonder how they made that happen. It seems really hard to get people to write great comments about you or your business even when you are delivering incredible work. How can you make this happen for you? Also, you might think that because you are a working professional, you don't need testimonials like a business might have.  You simply could not be more wrong.  A sentence or two of praise from a client, customer, colleague or boss can be incredibly helpful as you make your next move or try to attract your next customer.

We explain the power of a testimonial and we tell you how to get it for yourself in this step by step process. And we share some incredible tips on what you can learn from this process.

This episode is pure gold. It's absolutely some of the strongest why and how to we've ever delivered on the podcast.

You're going to want to listen to this one — maybe more than once.

Got questions, comments, or need some help from us? Try one of these links...

Are you missing the people you need to succeed? It might be time to upgrade your network or build one from scratch. 

Phil Yanov & Scott Pfeiffer give you a framework for building a powerful social and professional network.

This is a deep cut. It's an episode from November 2014 of the Your Day radio show which ran for 14 years on South Carolina Public radio. At one point on that show, Eric Rogers and Phil Yanov would co-host a technology call in. The pace was relaxed and fun. There was quite a bit of good natured banter between the calls. It was Car Talk, but about technology. Our tech call ins usually ran on Thursdays and we would take calls for an hour live on the air, and then for another 40 minutes off the air. This is (mostly) a full episode from the show. Thanks to Clemson University Broadcast Productions for the audio. 

Do you need to build a professional network, a society, a group, or an email list of likely customers and you are starting with nothing? It can feel overwhelming, but it doesn't need to be. In this episode, Phil and Scott get you directionally correct on building a list of your own. If you need help with growing, this is a great place to start.

This is a conversation from Networking Over Coffee. 

Phil Yanov interviews Chris Lockhart about the career move he made to leave his corporate gig and enter consulting. He's never looked back and he's got advice and guidance for people who might be looking for the flexibility and challenge of working in the consulting space.

Are you in corporate IT but think you'd like to make the jump to consulting? Maybe you just want to get a different point of view on consulting life. Those are both good reasons to listen to this podcast and share it with your friends.

Now is the perfect time to make a plan. It looks like the world is changing again. New opportunities are emerging. Are you ready? Ho do you get rid of the ideas you've been carrying and make the plan that catapults you forward. You can do this. You've learned some new lessons. How do you decide what will work for you in 2021? (Answer: Listen to this.)

"It's never been a better time to be a Stoic" - Brittany Polat

This is the last of our 2020 episodes. What did we do? What did we learn? What comes next?

So... You're thinking about writing a book. Does this process seem too big to get started? Are you having trouble with a framework to capture all of your ideas? Are you afraid nobody will read it? You might be stuck on the wrong questions. In this episode of the Tech After Five podcast, Scott reveals that his thinking on writing a book has changed. Phil & Scott talk about that and explore how to get started in getting your ideas into a format others can learn from.

It's time for you to Breakout! There are brand new features in Zoom, especially the new user driven Breakout Rooms. We talk about what's possible and how we are already using it at Tech After Five! This episode includes a brief recap of our virtual Gadgetfest as well!

Zoom fatigued? Maybe it's because people aren't using the tool in a way that respects you, the audience. Why do people join a video call and then not take advantage of the video? How can you organize a meeting people will enjoy? How can you get more out of meetings by using the tool better? Can you help educate your fellow Zoomers? In this episode Phil Yanov and Carol Hamilton talk about the human side of communication. We can communicate effectively using video conference. It just takes a bit of practice.

Is there an overriding Philosophy for IT Professionals? Does being in tech drive us toward Determinism or even Objectivism? We need a practical philosophy. Do the Ancient Greeks or Classical Roman Stoics have an answer? In this episode, we discuss the question and we look for answers in the Science Fiction of Isaac Asimov and others. Can we save Sarah Connor? Can we save ourselves? Can we act as a beneficial lever in the use of technology to lead to better lives? Can we achieve the Greatest Good for the Greatest Number? We explore the question and point towards some answers.

We've got our friend and fellow podcaster, Chris Lockhart of Consultants Saying Things to bring some additional perspective. And, we tease the idea of a new cross-over with his podcast. You'll want to hear them both.

One more reason to listen to the podcast, we've got a non-metaphorical use of the word "Luddite." I've got to believe no other podcast will bring that to you any time soon. It's a fun and free-ranging podcast where we explore the underpinnings of what it means to be in tech. Come listen, play, and think with us. We'd love to have you as part of the conversation.

Gratitude is a powerful tool for changing our attitude and life. It can make small changes quickly and when practiced regularly it can reorient us to accomplishing more and finding contentment. This isn't just a feel good move. The idea of purposefully expressing gratitude in a specific way changes us. This idea has clear connections to the ancient Greek philosophers and the many famous practitioners of Stoic philosophy. Looking for a change in yourself. See how we do it in this episode of the Tech After Five podcast.

We flipped the tables on this episode. Scott Pfeiffer asks Phil Yanov the questions. How did Tech After Five get started? Why does it exist? How did it grow to multiple cities? How did we make it to 600 events? What's next? We've got the stories. Listen in.

Whether you’re having your annus mirabilis or annus horribilus, you probably can get benefit from reflection. How do you do that? You write it down. There are lots of great techniques for this, and we have tried several. In this episode of the podcast we start with the benefits of journaling and then cover some of the methods that have worked best for us. There is no better way to clear your mind fo what comes next, than by having a conversation with yourself by journaling.

Some of the rules we have for ourselves just don't work for us. In fact, they are keeping us from being content. They are keeping us from getting where we want to go. If that's you, you might need better rules. Where do you get them from? We start in a simple place and then encourage you to explore.

We are about to celebrate Tech After Five #600, so we thought we'd plan a a party. 

Care to help? Listen in and tell us what you think!

We love Open Source. It’s an incredible piece of the IT industry that brings together both an incredible range of technical disciplines with a unique sense of community. As Todd Lewis points out in this interview, Open Source presents a great on-ramp for IT careers. Whether you are new, mid-career looking for a pivot, or just want to learn more about the technology and people working with Open Source software, there are opportunities to collaborate, learn, and be inspired. The bottom line of this interview? Thousands of people will come together to learn, network, and create opportunity at All Things Open 2020. I can’t think of a better learning or networking experience you can have from your own home or office. Learn more as we talk to Todd Lewis of All Things Open.

Think of yourself as an Introvert? Wondering how someone like you can build a strong network of friends, colleagues, and associates but feel awkward or uncomfortable around others? You are not alone. As an Introvert, you have to come up with new ways to talk to others and meet new people. We've got an expert for that. Nick Shelton is the best selling author of An Introverts Guide to World Domination. His book goes way beyond ordinary professional networking and tells you how to level up your networking in all areas of your life. In this episode we ask him about how networking has changed during quarantine, what we can do now, and how can we set ourselves up for success at networking. He tells us why we should make ourselves memorable and how to get to the key person in any room. This episode is full of tips that any Introvert can apply immediately. You can build your network now. Let Nick tell you how.

Did you know that there are resources online where you can learn to write software for free? Whether its Front End Development, HTML, CSS, Javascript, React, Java, or Ruby on Rails, there are programs, now online with SCCodes.org. Whether you are a new developer or wanting to build up your skills for your next career transition, there are classes and mentors available.

By the way, are you as excited about this as we are? It turns out there are opportunities to serve as a mentor as well. 

Thanks to Kaity Miller, Program Director at SC Codes for being our guest on the podcast. She is an enthusiastic advocate for the program and ready to get you connected to the program either as student or mentor.  Kaity told us 8000 people are already registered for the program, and that the online programs fill to capacity very quickly, so if this is for you, jump on over to SCCodes.org and sign up.

We want to talk about distractions. And eliminating them. And getting ourselves focused. So we did.

Ever heard about the Six Thinking Hats? It’s a decision quality framework you can use to make better decisions. We’ve all been in situations where groups (or even just us) make poor quality decisions because we failed to take into account other options, or we didn’t check the data. There is an established tool for helping us avoid these problems. It’s been around for many years, and we’d like to be the ones to introduce it to you. Welcome to the Tech After Five conversation about Six Thinking Hats.

We think you can organize your networking plan. There are tools you can use to focus your efforts. One class of these tools is called "personal knowledge management."  To introduce us to the idea and a couple of tools that we'd never spent any time with, we brought in Sandra Halling of The Data Mavens.  She helps her clients come up with a plan to use the data at their fingertips to accomplish their big goals. 

About Our guest:

The Carolinas' Premier Gathering of Entrepreneurs & Venture Capitalists is September 15-17. 

It's three, half day events filled with learning and an exciting first look at a number of companies looking for funding in a Shark Tank like event. 

We wanted to learn more about who should be there and why, so we asked conference director Alex Estevez to tell us everything we and you need to know. Join us for this informative conversation about an exciting upcoming event.

Are your Zoom meetings even harder than regular meetings used to be? Does it seem like the wrong people are in the “room” and nobody can figure out how to pay attention? In business meetings, this can be a killer. Things don’t get done. Decisions aren’t made, and it’s all because we haven’t quite yet adapted to the new technology. You can do this. We’ve brought in a leadership expert, Manfred Gollent to tell us how he counsels business leaders to get the most out of their meetings, and what special techniques you need in the world of the teleconference.

Have you got a big idea that's going nowhere? What are you afraid of? Something is holding you back.  Do you know what it is? We reference a Stoic exercise, Premeditatio Malorum, which means premeditation of evils. Tim Ferriss did a TED talk proposing an exercise he calls Fear Setting. We take those ideas and discuss what's going on in our heads. Why do we get stuck and how do we overcome it? We talk about Resistance and how we can make our fears specific and analyze them and overcome them.

Kanika Tolver, author of How to Rehab Your Career is our special guest on this extra special edition of the Tech After Five podcast.

Are you trying to be useful? Do you know what that means? Is this why we are really here? This all started with a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” Is that true? Does being useful make us happy?

Watch and then tell us what you think.

Did you know you can update your job skills with practical knowledge even when you are working from home? Did you know that there is a path for employers to bring on employees into new roles while providing them with the skills training they need to be successful? The program at Arkansas Center for Data Sciences is bridging the gap for candidates and employers in what has to be one of the most innovative programs in the country. There is more opportunity to find the employees you need. There is more opportunity to get job training in the high tech sector in Arkansas than you probably imagined. This program surely can be a model for other states to bring motivated employees into higher paying high tech jobs. Listen as Bill Yoder and Lonnie Emard describe Fully Remote Apprenticeships facilitated by ACDS.

Are we done with shaking hands? We are worried about germs like we never have been before. A handshake was supposed to mean “you can trust me.” Now it feels like our hands might be unwitting biological weapons. What’s worse, we can’t even shake hands on a Zoom call. What are we to do?

In this episode we talk about the routines that give us focus. We are trying to get the right things done. How do we get body, mind, and soul ready to do something big? It might be having the right morning routine might be the thing you need. But, it might not be morning. We've got space for night owls as well.  Either way, having focusing routines will help you keep your day your own. It is easy to have the world hijack your day. How do you stop it? Get focused. There are things you want to get done. Let's make you effective at getting those things done through the power of focusing routines.

Scott and Phil talk about going back to work in the office. How do we handle that? Why are we feeling differently about that? How do do our best to assess the risks? Also, a brief conversation on the transformation of businesses from heroics to systems thinking.

Bonus… We hint at the upcoming availability of a time machine for one of our events you might have missed.

Then we get to a decision framework for getting the important stuff done. How do we do that? How do we avoid the loops that keep us from getting the most important things done?

We’ve got some ideas on how you can nudge yourself into new behaviors and change your outcomes.

Unpacking the paradoxes of the way humans think is Dr. Rebecca Heiss’ life work.  Her research has been designated “transformative” by the National Science Foundation.  She taught at the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics and later was recruited to be among the founding faculty members to develop a startup school to nurture entrepreneurial minds.

Her work is evolutionary human biology and stress responses.  How do we sort through our fears? How do we change our responses so that we can grow? Dr. Rebecca Heiss talks to us about her work with various professional and entrepreneurial groups.  She helps us understand the Fear(less) Challenge she's conducting with people from all walks of life. 

Learn more about Dr. Rebecca Heiss, the Fearless Challenge, the app she's developing as well as her upcoming book in this episode.

Today, Scott Pfeiffer and Phil Yanov interview Donald Robertson, author of “How to Think Like a Roman Emperor” for the Tech After Five podcast. Let me say… we are both excited about this. Robertson’s book was one of our favorite reads of last year and Phil says he's read the book several times now. "What does that have to do with tech" you might ask. 

We think that tech, and IT specifically, is one of the fastest moving parts of our society. It’s really easy for us to be put in positions where we might find ourselves acting beyond the prescriptions of our ethical frameworks. 

How do we act nobly in uncertain situations? How do I execute my work and my communications with others with virtue? We think Stoicism (of the capital “S” sort) provides a useful scaffolding for decision making. 

In this episode, we explore that with Donald Robertson who starts the conversation off with a powerful premise. Stoicism is a mental martial art that allows us to defend ourselves against the outrage machine of social media.

Our guest:

To get started in most endeavors it’s best but not required that you be “directionally correct.” 

What is not required is for you to be perfect. Start. Evaluate. Iterate.  

After checking in, we talk about getting off our "buts" and getting started in our new projects. We've got some real opportunity in the moment. We talk about how to get yourself started by avoiding perfection paralysis.

We've got an exercise for you. It's time to rethink what comes next for you. How do you decide what you are going to carry with you? It can happen for lots of people in lots of ways, but right now, it's happened for everyone. Something big came along and mashed the reset button. It gave us a moment to think. We can reposition. We can approach what comes next from a different angle.  Are we thinking about that? Have you decided how to repack that heavy backpack of skills, behaviors and attitudes you've been carrying around? Maybe you've stopped thinking about what doesn't work for you anymore. But, maybe, you are ready for some change. Maybe you are ready to drop the weight that is no longer meaningful to you and move quickly into the what's next. We've got some ideas on that.

We've got a brand new program coming from Tech After Five. You've said you want more content. You want to meet and talk to experts from all over. We are going to make that happen.  Want to know more? This is the episode for you. We've got someone special and unexpected in the episode! Check it out.

This week we do a friendly checkin and discuss some feedback we've gotten on our Zoom Interview show. We then talk about the benefits of a Mastermind and why now might be exactly the right time for you to get into a Mastermind to advance your career or business.

• How are businesses planning for back to work?
• Can you pull off the Thermometer Question from our Zoom Interview episode?
• What can you hope to get from a Mastermind?
• and for Mother's Day -- What's the best advice your mother ever gave you?

We open up with a some observations about the week with us and our clients. The tech industry is chugging along. Businesses are beginning to think about what comes next and how they go back to work. But, still, we've got lots of concerns. How do we handle that?

Advice from the Top

Next up, we grab some of the lessons from top industry executives and see how they are responding to a workforce that's largely at home. How do you keep up innovation when people aren't together? What happens when we mix personality types on video calls? How do we keep people working with each other and aligned with the company?

Is Zoom Dead?

Lastly, we talk about the recent changes in video conference tools and what's coming out next. Google and Facebook are not standing still while Zoom gobbles up the market. What comes next? Why should we care? Is it too early to get married to a platform?