Greater IBMer Julie Shore: A Volunteer SWOOPer

“…..SWOOP just goes in and totally transforms whatever they’re working on….70 women will descend on a property, and it’s transformation, what happens.”

“…It’s like we just swoop in and when we leave, everything is dramatically different.”

Those words come from two women who are part of a Raleigh, N.C. organization called SWOOP: Strong Women Organizing Outrageous Projects. Does this sound like a group of women you’d like to know? Greater IBMer Julie Shore thinks so: an IBMer for 30 years, Julie has served her community as a member of SWOOP for 17 now.

Julie Shore

Julie sat down with The Greater IBM Connection to share with us her story, and what it’s meant to her to be a part of SWOOP.

The Greater IBM Connection: How long have you worked at IBM?

Julie Shore: More than 30 years.

GIBM: What is your role today, and what are some other positions you’ve held?  

I’m in channel marketing in STG, working with independent software vendors (ISVs) to help them develop for, use and recommend IBM systems to their clients. I’ve also served a variety of roles in channel marketing in SWG, managing various marketing and certification programs and driving channel enablement for direct and indirect sellers.

GIBM: What does your typical day involve – what are some of the responsibilities of your role?

I’m now driving launch activities related to all indirect channels.  So my days are filled with keeping track and pushing progress with all aspects of launch preparation from the perspective of reseller, ISV and SI marketing teams.

GIBM: Tell us about your volunteering with SWOOP. How do you contribute?

I’ve volunteered with SWOOP since its founding in 1996. We have two key focus areas.  SWOOPin’ Saturdays are once-a-month workdays where we help agencies and individuals with large-scale, short-term projects, such as building playgrounds for at-risk kids, renovating a house for someone in a wheelchair, or painting low-income housing units.

SWOOPers in action: a ramp project in progress (Photo courtesy Julie Shore)

I’m often a team leader on carpentry projects, and help with whatever else needs to be done when carpentry is not involved.

The other key focus is our “Ramp It Up!” initiative, which provides wheelchair ramps for people with urgent needs. We work with agencies to identify the projects.  We design and build wooden ramps, and also install removable aluminum ramps for shorter-term requirements.  Our executive director is also an architect and general contractor, so SWOOP brings design and construction expertise that agencies might not otherwise be able to access affordably.

It’s easy to sign up for either or both aspects through our Web site, http://swoop4u.org.

GIBM: How did SWOOP get started, and how did you become involved?

A couple of friends had lots of trees down from Hurricane Fran in 1996.  After cleaning up their own yards, they helped some friends do the same.  It occurred to them that a team of people could accomplish more than just one or two working independently, so the growing group started showing up at the houses of other friends – in fact, my house was SWOOPed in that crazy week after Fran, so I’ve been involved nearly from the beginning.

Over time it got more organized, got an official name (Strong Women Organizing Outrageous Projects) and logo, and was accorded 501(C)(3) nonprofit status in 2001.  We now have approximately 1,400 people on the membership roles.

GIBM: What is the most rewarding aspect of volunteering for you?

Going home with a great sense of accomplishment, and in awe of people’s ability to deal with challenges and crises of everyday life. I also enjoy the camaraderie among SWOOPers, and I always learn a ton and laugh a lot.

GIBM: Raleigh has a large IBM campus – are there other IBMers/Greater IBMers involved with SWOOP?

Yes, I know several IBMers who are current or past SWOOPers – Molly Walters, Sandy Campbell, Holly Tallon Hilbrands and Betty Lynch are some of the local IBMers who are active in SWOOP.  We’re on the local and national approved agency lists for the IBM Employees Charitable Contribution Campaign.

GIBM: Tell us how you use The Greater IBM Connection: what do you get out of it personally?

I access it through LinkedIn.  Mostly I look at the summary e-mails and follow links to interesting or relevant discussions.

GIBM: You mentioned that you’re retiring by the end of this year.  What do you plan to do with the extra time?

Not sure yet. I’m considering several possibilities.

GIBM: Do you plan to stay connected with your IBM friends and colleagues?

Definitely!

GIBM: What else do you do with your spare time?

Golf and woodworking are my outside-of-work passions.

GIBM: What does the future hold for you and what are you most looking forward to?

I want to finish my IBM career with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, and go forward from there.

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More from SWOOP – Project videos:

• Passage Home playspace/garden
• Building a fence for a child
• Ramp It Up! projects
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gyw8us_AlA4
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXVS2d_CvLE

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Know a Greater IBMer with a story to share, or want to share your own? Email us at editor.gmail@us.ibm.com and tell us your story.

Greater IBMer Renee Weisman on What Makes a Great Boss

In this article from her site, Greater IBMer, engineer and author Renee Weisman talks about what characterizes a truly great manager.

Renee Weisman giving a lecture

“In my 40+ year career,” she writes, “I have had a number of supervisors and I have to agree, I was considerably more productive, creative and energized under certain managers. And there were a handful who made going to work every day a drag. What made the difference?”

Get her list of the key distinctions between the GREAT bosses and …the rest.

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More from this author:

Women Who Want to Succeed? Quit Doing These 5 Things

Hate to Brag? How to Self-Promote to Advance Your Career

Follow Renee on Twitter

Renee’s site

Buy the book: Winning in a Man’s World: Advice for Women Who Want to Succeed and the Men Who Work with Them 

- Posted by Regan Kelly, Editor/Community Manager, The Greater IBM Connection

Announcing IBM Alumni India LinkedIn Group

The Greater IBM Connection and the IBM India team are pleased to announce the launch of the new India LinkedIn group of our community. We’re starting this group as a way for our community of Greater IBMers to interact and network with community members in India.

To do this, we’ve partnered with an IBM social business team in India, led by Khalid Raza.

To join the India group sub-community: 

• You must first join the global Greater IBM Connection community here.
• Then request to join the India Alumni group here.
• Note: You must provide accurate information about your IBM employment on your profile so that your membership can be approved for both groups.

Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to you joining today!

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– Posted by Julie Yamamoto, Program Manager, The Greater IBM Connection

Need a Career Pivot? Read Greater IBMer Marc Miller’s New Book

Marc Miller

by Regan Kelly, Editor/Community Manager, The Greater IBM Connection

If anybody knows about pivoting in your career, it’s Greater IBMer Marc Miller, of Austin, Texas. He’s written a new book – “Repurpose Your Career” -  so that baby boomers and others can learn from the twists and turns of his long professional life (and his many  distinct careers). Miller has managed a help desk for mechanical engineers, worked as an IT architect, trained salespeople for IBM’s first UNIX product, taught high school, and more.

So it’s fitting that when he started his own business, he called it Career Pivot and developed a book advancing similar concepts. Read more about Mr. Miller, his days at IBM, his work today, and what you need to know about his new book. 

Marc Miller’s new offering, available now

The Greater IBM Connection: When did you work for IBM and in what capacity?

Marc Miller: I started with IBM Austin in 1978 as a programmer working on word processors. I stayed in Austin for my entire career, and left in January of 2000.

The Greater IBM Connection:  What was your role and what were some of your responsibilities?

Marc Miller: I wandered around a lot; I was an assembly language programmer for word processors; I was in an office eight hours a day with a coding pad,  UGH!! This was before the IBM PC came to be.

I then went into testing, managed a help desk for mechanical engineers CAD/CAM, trained the first 1000 system engineers and salespeople for IBM’s first real UNIX product (RS/6000), presented IBM product plans in the AIX briefing center, spent a year in IBM Global Services as an IT architect, and finished up in AIX marketing.

The Greater IBM Connection: Why did you decide to leave IBM? Any regrets about that decision? 

Marc Miller: After a lot of soul searching, I decided I wanted to go back to training, but  I could not do that with IBM in Austin, so I went to work for Agere Inc., where I worked directly for one of the two company founders developing a training program.

In the first eight months, I designed and produced a two-hour seat time training CD that got rave reviews – I was hooked.

The Greater IBM Connection: Are you still connected with your former IBM colleagues? 

Marc Miller: For five to ten years or so, I lost touch with a lot of my IBM friends. In the last few years, however, I have had many IBM friends reconnect for a variety of reasons. Some are retiring and looking to network. Some have reconnected via social media.

The Greater IBM Connection: Tell us about your job today. What is your role and what does it involve?

Marc Miller: In 2002, I had a near fatal bicycle accident. I had a head-on collision with an automobile where our combined speeds exceeded 50 mph. I miraculously lived with only few broken bones. I was back on a bicycle in 10 weeks and wondering why I lived. I volunteered to be laid off in 2003 and went off to teach high school math.

To make a long story short, I left teaching after a couple of years, did non-profit fundraising, and later was pulled into another startup in late 2007. I rode out both recessions in successful startups, but during that time I had a lot of friends who were being wiped out financially.

By the time I left the corporate world in early 2011, I had developed a lot of skills that my employers wanted me to acquire. I just did not want to use them anymore: I wanted to do what I wanted to do.

When I started my business Career Pivot in 2011, I was starting my 7^th career, very unusual for someone of the baby boomer generation.

My mission is to guide baby boomers through today’s constantly changing career world. I am not a career coach, but rather a career trainer and designer. I train people to design their own careers. I focus on baby boomers and older Gen Xers who either cannot or don’t want to retire.

The Greater IBM Connection: What was the impetus for your writing a book?

Marc Miller: Most baby boomers were raised to be employees and to work for father-like companies that it was expected would take care of us. We all know that world does not exist anymore.

Most boomers made career decisions when opportunities appeared – in other words, we reacted. Now, however, we are in a referral economy and you can no longer react but you must be proactive.

The book is meant to be something like a cookbook. Though it doesn’t use cookbook language, it does contain recipes for career change. Of course, recipes are meant to be modified and seasoned to taste.

The Greater IBM Connection: What was the writing process like? What was it like working with a second writer?

Marc Miller: In 2011 I was introduced to Susan Lahey, who is a former journalist and was building a writing business in Austin. Susan is very good at writing in my voice. Our first collaboration was a white paper titled Don’t Retire Even if You Can – A Baby Boomer Manifesto. It’s available here.

In June of 2011, I started blogging three to four times a week, generating a lot of content. Based on feedback from my readership, I started writing in very long series (30-40 post sequences). I was writing about strategies in career management and job search.

Susan and I collaborated on the book, and its content mostly came from either from the manifesto or the blog.

The Greater IBM Connection: How has the book been received so far?

Marc Miller: I sent pre-release copies to many career professional around the country to get feedback. The response has been incredibly good. When people give me great feedback, it is very fulfilling.

The Greater IBM Connection: What do you do in your spare time?

Marc Miller: It may surprise you that I still bicycle. In addition, I am currently part of the Leadership Austin Essentials Class. I also have served on the board of directors of Launch Pad Job Club, the largest job support group in Central Texas, for the last six years.

The Greater IBM Connection: Is there another book in your future?  If so, what might its subject be?

Marc Miller: The next book will be The Cure for Career Insanity, which will accompany my webinar series to launch in 2013.

We will put out a second edition of Repurpose Your Career in January of 2014, with more real-life stories from my clients.

The Greater IBM Connection: What’s the best way for readers to buy your book?

Marc Miller: Amazon is the place to go. The book is available in both paperback and Kindle editions. If you happen to live in Austin, the book can be found in the Career and Home Improvement sections of Book People. You should also be able to order the book from just about any bookstore. You can find the Kindle edition on Amazon.com here.

The Greater IBM Connection: Any final thoughts? 

Marc Miller: The biggest hurdle is fear in making a career change or pivot. Fear of failure. Fear of financial hardship. Fear of loss of credibility. Fear of change!

It doesn’t happen overnight. I find it takes three months of working with clients to get them to the point where they believe they can make the change work.

More:

Read some reviews of Repurpose Your Career

Visit Marc Miller’s site

Follow Marc on Twitter: @CareerPivot

Listening to the Voices of Social Business

Ethan McCarty, IBM director, enterprise social strategy and programs (and Greater IBMer) recently wrote a popular new blog post on the business world’s view of social media. “The common view in the business world is that social media is simply a fun tool for checking in with friends and family – something that I, and millions of others, enjoy every day,” he writes.

Ethan McCarty, Director of Enterprise Social Strategy and Programs, IBM

“However, this perception sells social media short and ultimately prevents many businesses from harnessing its true potential.”

The possibilities of social media, in other words, go far beyond glancing through your Facebook news feed to stay current. With the extensive power and influence it offers, social media is today nothing less than a force for organizational change and business value, he writes.

Which organizations are going to come out on top to be the big winners?  Read the rest at Wired.com.
Originally published at A Smarter Planet blog

 

 

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– Posted by Regan Kelly, Editor/Community Manager, The Greater IBM Connection

New Video: IBM Distinguished Engineer Edith Stern Wins Kate Gleason Award for Lifetime Achievement

Distinguished engineer Edith Stern

Edith Stern, a distinguished engineer and inventor at IBM with more than 100 patents to her name, has been given the Kate Gleason Award for lifetime achievement. The award ceremony took place at the 2012 ASME Honors Assembly in Houston, TX.

She received the award for the development of novel applications of new technologies. The 100 patents to her name represent her work in the worlds of telephony and the Internet, remote health monitoring, and digital media.

More:

Child Prodigy Edith Stern Wins Kate Gleason Award (Yorktown-Somers Patch)

About the award

The Face of a 1946 “Computer”: Making Sense of the Universe

“You don’t even know what a miracle you’re living in…”

Eleanor Kolchin was once a computer.

When she accepted her first full-time job in 1946 at IBM, “computers” were people, not machines. “I was a math major, and I expected I would teach high school math,” says Kolchin, 86. “So before I ever got a job, I had applied to get a master’s degree in math at Columbia University. My father came home one day and said he’d heard IBM was hiring mathematicians, so I sent them a letter, and I got a job there. It was 1946, and I was 21 years old.”

The company, she said, hired five mathematicians — two women and three men — because of its plans to unveil a machine that would calculate planetary and lunar orbits. Those very calculations were later used in the mission to send US astronauts to the moon.

Today, she’s long since traded the punched-card machines for an iPod — one of her favorite gadgets — but she’s still programming, some 66 years after getting her start.

But what was it like to be a woman working as a computer at IBM in 1946? Read her story at The Huffington Post.

 

The Road Less Traveled Can Turn Into Your Life’s Work

by Greater IBMer Nathan Lincoln, owner of Noah’s Ark Petting Zoo/Frontier Pony Rides

I co-own and run a petting zoo and pony ride business with my wife of 20 years.

Author Nathan Lincoln, his wife Gloria, and some of their friends

When I met my wife, I was working at a job I had just gotten a few months earlier with a traveling carnival. I was unemployed and staying with friends in the little oil field and coal mining town of Gillette, Wyoming. I had just gotten out of the National Guard unit headquartered there.

One morning I arrived at the unemployment office, hoping enough work would come in that day for me to be called. The woman at the front desk asked whether anyone wanted to work in a carnival coming to the town’s Main Street festival. I got the assignment.

Visitors enjoy the petting zoo’s many animals

My job was to run a small homemade car ride with 10 old pedal cars. The owner saw that I made the ride fun for the kids by playing with them while they were on it, even seeing to it that the kids who were unhappy or scared started to enjoy themselves. He offered to let me return with him to Colorado, the center of his operations in Colorado, where there were many more jobs, and I accepted.

Sultan the camel gets his noontime bottle of milk

Once I arrived with the carnival and began working the events through the Denver area, I noticed another person running a pony ride next to him at events. As it happens, shortly before I joined the carnival, the carnival owner had begun buying more of the big mechanical rides and unloading his only high-maintenance attraction: the pony rides.

The woman who had bought the ponies – her name was Gloria – was interesting and friendly. As the carnival would move from one spot to another, she would sometimes need help getting everything set up later in the evening, as she was too busy during the daytime.

Gloria began asking me to help and we struck up a friendship through these evening odd jobs, ended up beginning a relationship. That resulted in our being married a year later.

And that was the beginning of Frontier Pony Rides. My wife and I  expanded the pony ride business by getting event jobs on our own, adding a small petting zoo a few years later. After 10 years (and a few other full time jobs for me that led to my employment at IBM), we bought out another pony/zoo business in Colorado. Today, it’s Noah’s Ark Petting Zoo/Frontier Pony Rides.

Flemish rabbit, father of several others n the petting zoo

As Noah’s Ark Petting Zoo/Frontier Pony Rides we now have a number of exotic or unusual animals, including African Pygmy goats, Nigerian Dwarf goats, and Shetland sheep. We do a range of jobs from small to large. From taking a few of our little mini African Pygmy goats (which are beagle-sized) into retirement homes, where the folks light up like little kids holding and petting them, to taking a dozen of so animals like our little fluffy Shetland sheep, black and white spotted Jacob sheep, pygmy and Nigerian dwarf goats, and Flemish Giant rabbits to day care centers, on up to fairs and festivals.

Baby wallaby Quigley

We also do The Denver Cinco de Mayo Festival, and the Colorado and Central Washington State Fairs, where we add our more exotic animals. These can include our giant 35- to 40-lb. African Spurred tortoises Titan and Clyde, our 3-ft tall adult wallaby Skipper, our llamas, alpacas, mini donkeys, mini horses, miniature pigs, our camel Ali (he’s especially popular at the living nativity scenes around Christmas time), and other animals.

That’s how deciding to do something that you would never expect to do can lead into a complete life’s work. – Nathan Lincoln computer/server administration specialist… & Petting Zoo Owner

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About the author:

Author Nathan Lincoln

Mr. Lincoln worked for IBM between 2003 and 2012, in Boulder, CO, as a Level 2 Support Technician, with Global Business Services (GBS)  and previously at Career Connections, Inc.

The One Key that Helped Drive the Computer Revolution – Thanks to IBM

“It’s the ‘Hey, you! Listen to me’ key…it says to the computer: ‘Stop what you’re doing. I need to take control.’ ” It’s the Escape key, the one that reminds the computer of its human master AND the one that’s probably saved you more than once.

And it was invented by an IBMer. The story of how it came to be, in this piece by Pagan Kennedy in the NY Times.

IBM computer pioneer Bob Bemer in an undated family photo (courtesy AP)

 

 

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Has the Escape key ever helped you out of a jam? Tell your story in the Comments.

–Posted by Regan Kelly

Hate to Brag? How to Self Promote to Advance Your Career

by Renee Weisman, author of Winning in a Man’s World

Greater IBMer and author Renee Weisman

Do you recognize yourself in any of these people?

1.    You jumped through hoops to get a new client or complete a major project and didn’t get the credit you deserved.  Even worse- someone else got the credit.

2.    You believed you were clearly in line for a promotion or job opportunity but didn’t get it. Even more upsetting, someone you felt was less deserving got the job.

3.    Your work was presented at a meeting by your boss or other team members. Even more upsetting, when they acknowledged that you had done the work, your senior manager asked, “Who is that?”

If any of these situations sound familiar, you are not alone.  Most people, especially women, absolutely hate to share their accomplishments and as a result, other people step in and grab the glory.  The old adage, “A job well done speaks for itself” was most likely drummed into your head from childhood. You feel like your boss should be the one bragging about you, if anyone does.  Or maybe you are so busy doing your job, you don’t have time to brag about it.

All of these excuses are standing in the way of your success. In fact, Catalyst Magazine determined that of all the career strategies women use to get ahead, the most effective one was promoting their own accomplishments.  Men may get promoted on potential but women are promoted on performance. If your manager, coworkers, team leads and executive management don’t know the good work you are doing, you will be left in the dust by others who aren’t afraid to toot their horns.

At this point, most people argue that they’ve seen others who brag about their accomplishments and they consider those people to be obnoxious.  You may be right, but scientific research has shown that individuals who brag, even if they are obnoxious, are considered more competent that those who downplay their accomplishments.  However, if you can brag in a positive light, you are not only seen as more competent but also seen as likeable.

You can learn to brag properly. Just as preparing for a major presentation takes practice and some finessing, sharing your great work also requires effort. A job is not done unless others know you did it.

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How do you keep track of YOUR accomplishments and share them with the world?

About the Author:

Renee Weisman was a Distinguished Engineer and Director of Engineering at IBM until retiring in 2008. Having spent nearly 40 years in the heavily male-dominated semiconductor engineering industry, often as the only woman, Renee learned firsthand how women can hold themselves back.

The owner of Winning at Work Consulting, Renee now teaches others the secrets to her success. Renee is a featured writer for excelle.monster.com, smallbizlink.monster.com and for the Poughkeepsie Journal’s Young Professionals career page.

Visit Renee’s site