Thursday, December 13, 2012

The New LinkedIn Profile : What you'll need to know

LinkedIn is always striving to improve how to improve the network for its members.
With more than 187 million members (as of the end of September 2012), that's a lot of people, a lot of individual people.

While most of us don't like to be 'profiled' by others--- since 2002 the LinkedIn Profile has given professionals in more than 200 countries and territories a "personal billboard" in the cloud, through which we can present ourselves for all to see, pretty much as we'd like to present our personal brand.

The features and capabilities of what we can/can't show on our LinkedIn Profiles has changed over time, and recently LinkedIn has introduced what they call "The New LinkedIn Profile"

While it will take a little time to get familiar with the new format---I see LOTS to like in the new Profile and think you will too!

Rather than go into it here, let me point you to three links from LinkedIn itself (courtesy of Krista Canfield, Senior Manager of Communications at LinkedIn) that do a good job at summarizing what's changed:

  1. Krista's suggestion for the BEST link to "Meet the New LinkedIn Profile"
  2. Beyond that check out Aaron Broznan's October 16, 2012 post on the LinkedIn blog describing how the new LI profile can provide a "Better Way to Connect and Build Relationships"
  3. Last but not least--- for those of us who live and work on our smartphones: here's a video from David Breger on how to "Profile Edit on the Go!"

Now for a Blatantly Commercial Self-Promotion!

I run my communications consultancy (Valuecasters) to help clients to connect and engage with those that matter. Through my business I've taught lots of companies how to leverage LinkedIn to build their brand and drive business development and partnerships for bottom- line benefits. If you're interested in learning if/how I might help you, drop me an email:
prafter@valuecasters.com or check me out on my new LinkedIn Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/patrickrafter/

Gotta practice what I preach!
All the best,
--Patrick (Rafter)

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Fast MassTech Companies Lead North America

On the eve of the 8th Annual unConference of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, news hit that 45 Massachusetts companies were named to the prestigious 2012 Deloitte Technology Fast 500,the 18th annual ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, and clean technology companies – both public and private –  in North America.


Awarded to companies whom Deloitte describes as “on the cutting edge and are transforming the way we do business today,” Technology Fast 500 award winners for 2012 are determined based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth during the period from 2007 to 2011, with an average growth of 2,774 percent.

Impressively, winning companies from the "Boston" area (including Massachusetts, Southern New Hampshire and Northern Connecticut) constituted 10% of the winners circle, the second largest region, after #1 seeded San Francisco Bay Area.

In addition to a collection of bio-pharma innovators (Amag, AVEO, Vertex, others) a large contingent of MassTLC member companies were among the 45 Massachusetts "Fast" winners including Software-as-a-Service providers HubSpot, Carbonite, LogMeIn, as well as Woburn, MA-based HealthcareSource (the leading provider of talent management solutions for healthcare).

Executives from many of the winning companies are slated to attend the 2012 MassTLC unConference taking place tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 16 in Boston. 

Tech-Maven Bill Warner at the
 First MassTLC unConference in 2008
(Photo: Patrick Rafter)


While this year's unConference is expected to attract 800+ attendees (more than ever before), registration is still open at this point. As anyone who's ever attended and Tweeted about the @Mass TLC #unConference -- this event is the most innervative gathering of the year for anyone who has any connection to technology in New England.  Don't miss it!

Here's a rough "pull" I did of the 45 Massachusetts companies named to the Deloitte 2012 Technology 500. I look forward to congratulating many of the winners in person tomorrow at the 2012 MassTLC unConference, and buying some of my successful friends a celebratory cocktail! :-)



#
F500 Rank
Company
1.      
17
HubSpot
2.      
51
Carbonite
3.      
54
Ambient Corporation
4.      
64
Amag Pharmaceuticals
5.      
90
AVEO Pharmaceuticals
6.      
93
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals
7.      
96
Momenta Pharmaceuticals
8.      
114
Insulet Corporation
9.      
123
OmniGuide
10.    
124
SyntaPharmaceuticals
11.    
126
Itronis
12.    
146
Brightcove 
13.    
151
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
14.    
153
ARIAD Pharmaceuticals
15.    
154
Demandware
16.    
165
Celldex Therapies
17.    
188
Wave Systems
18.    
190
Satcon Technology
19.    
204
ArQule, Inc.
20.    
228
EnerNOC  
21.    
234
LogMeIn, Inc. #234
22.    
241
Dynasil Corporation of America
23.    
245
Sarpeta Therapeutics
24.    
249
Constant Contact, Inc
25.    
258
IneoQuest Technologies, Inc.
26.    
290
NxStage Medical, Inc.
27.    
327
athenahealth, Inc.
28.    
338
Cambridge NanoTech Inc.
29.    
379
HealthcareSource
30.    
338
Cambridge NanoTech Inc.
31.    
379
HealthcareSource
32.    
402
NetScout Systems, Inc.
33.    
427
Acme Packet
34.    
432
MEMSIC, Inc.
35.    
444
Pegasystems Inc.
36.    
446
Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 
37.    
456
IPG Photonics Corporation
38.    
464
Bullhorn
39.    
465
DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
40.    
468
Merchant Warehouse
41.    
469
Image Stream Medical
42.    
470
Technical Communications Corp.
43.    
477
Hologic, Inc.
44.    
485
Bridgeline Digital
45.    
496
BirdDog Solutions, Inc.


A 11/14/12 Deloitte press release contains more details and a PDF of the full listing of the Fast 500 list is available from the Deloitte website.

Hope to see some of you at the unConference and that you'll join me in extending a heartfelt: "BRAVO and Well Done!" to the Deloitte winners as well as a chance to meet up-and-coming MassTech innovators, likely to be on the Fast 500 list in years to come!




Thursday, October 11, 2012

Unsolicited Advice to the Candidates


 I usually don’t like to weigh in on my blog on controversial topics like politics, sex, drugs, religion or (anything else worth talking about),  but after watching the VP debate and more election ads than I can tolerate…

I’m fed up with the rhetoric and fluffy noise of all the candidates,
Republican or Democrat, Green or Independent, etc.

That inspires me to offer Unsolicited Advice to the Candidates
Including what  they should stop saying in the debates, in their annoying ads, etc…

Here in the spirit of bipartisanship… my 2 cents, take it or leave it:

1.   Stop telling sappy personal stories about Americans in hard times….we’re smarter than that…

2.   We’re electing our leaders… kill the sappy anecdotes about your spouses, parents, past bosses, a steel worker you met in Toledo, an unwed mother in Tampa don’t score points with thinking people…. So contrived it makes me sick.

3.   Answer the questions that are asked of you, Answer the questions that are asked of you, Answer the questions that are asked of you…

4.   Make sure that the POTUS/VP, Senate, Rep candidates aren’t using the identically same catchphrases in their TV ads

5.   “My percentages are better than yours are!!! Nannny, nanny, boo, boo!!” C’mon, the electorate aren’t statisticians!

6.   Know your stuff but don’t preach, don’t teach…

7.   When you smile and laugh, make it genuine….

8.   Wanna show bipartisanship?  How about honestly and publicly admitting when your opponent has a good idea?

9.   Don’t OVEREXECUTE during debates by sending out tons of Tweets from the @FauxCandidatesTwitter Accounts during the debates… it smacks of inauthicity… be honest and responsive, not robotic.

10.                 Don’t claim you’re better…
Instead, tell us how we can come together to fix the most important problems facing the country (in no necessary order):
The Debt, joblessness, economic conditions/business conditions, healthcare, longterm competitiveness (through education), poverty, affordable healthcare, cost of living.


Catchphrases that should be stricken from all discussions:
American families
Middle class
Wealthy people
Billionaires
Working people
Fighting for you
Many more I don’t have time for….


What do you think?
Respect.
Let’s fix our country, together.