Notes on Productivity Home Page

If you have followed any of my blogs for any time, you know that I am a huge fan of mind mapping and that one of my two favorite tools for mind mapping is MindManager.  (The other is Personal Brain - both claim to be mind mapping tools and in a sense they are but for me they fill very different productivity roles.)  Each of these tools does an amazing job at helping me visualize and map ideas and knowledge.

This week, Mindjet released Version 8 of MindManager, its mind mapping software, as well as MindManager Web, an on-line mapping service. Here are just a few key features: Rich export to fully interactive Adobe PDF or SWF files (you can work with people that do not have MindManager), Web access within MindManager, Web Collaboration, MS Office Editing within MindManager (MindManager becomes your working environment). And, there's much more... Brian Friedlander, over at the Assistive Technology blog has done a terrific job of writing about the key features and benefits of MindManager 8. I encourage you to read his summary.

MindManager 8 Press Release

I've blogged before about how we are using IdeaJam at our company to interact with our customers. We have several IdeaJam forums, public and private, and it has changed the way that we evaluate ideas.  Since this blog is supposed to be about productivity, I'll share that what makes using IdeaJam productive for me is the fact that I can tap the mind of the crowd saving me guessing and time.

IdeaJam creator, Bruce Elgort has just posted a new IdeaJam video that does a great job of telling the story of what IdeaJam is, how it works and how it can work for your organization. The video is as good as the product. I think Bruce has done an outstanding job of communicating the story. No doubt he's gearing up to win a Lotus Award - which I am certain he will. Best of success to you, Bruce and team. Great video.

While I understand that there's always a gap between the marketing/press release and the reality and I do not know how big that gap is, I am very excited about the Lotus Foundations offering from IBM. The idea of a drop-in-place server that is remotely managed and self-healing is very interesting. It appears to provide the benefits of SAAS with the security and capability of an on-site solution.

I have already recommended to a few clients that we include Lotus Foundations in consideration for their 2009 plans.  I'd like to say more about foundations, but without hand-on experience, I have little to tell just yet. Meanwhile, I have found the following resources and blog entries helpful:

IBM Foundations Press Release
LotusFoundations.com
Bilal Jaffery's Foundations blog

If you are running foundations, I'd like to hear of your experience.

Update: Gregg Eldred just posted this summary of a Foundations article in The Register.

I have a very special opportunity that involves my client, The David Allen Company. In short, I have been asked to nominate a few people to participate in a special program. There's no cost and the benefits are huge. You'll be asked to share and blog about your experience. I can nominate 3 people. If you are an established Notes blogger with a serious interest in personal productivity, I'd like to hear from you and see some of your personal productivity blog posts that you have written. You know where to find me.

Eric

If you haven't seen the list of Best Practices session proposals for Lotusphere 2009, please check them out. There are many excellent session proposals and you can vote to help determine which sessions will be on the Lotusphere 2009 agenda.  Right now, according to the early polls, my two session proposals are near the top of the list. I would sure like to have your vote.

This year, I've invited my client, David Allen, to co-present with me at Lotusphere. David graciously agreed to participate and I'm excited.  We'll be talking about how we get  things done with Lotus Notes.  I've asked David to present a mini-GTD overview in the context of Lotus Notes. I know that many of you are already aware of GTD, if so , this will be a nice review. For those of you that have not heard of David Allen or his Getting Things Done methodology, I encourage you to read his best-selling book, Getting Things Done, the Art of Stress-Free Productivity. I promise these sessions, if selected, will be ones you won't want to miss!

Bruce Elgort's IdeaJam service allows you to cast your vote for or against any session topic on the list, so let your voice be heard and make your vote count.

Please log into IdeaJam today and review the many session proposals. Be sure to take a look at my two session proposals, then, after you've read them, cast your vote!

Breakout Session:
Lotus Notes and Me: Maximizing Personal Productivity with Lotus Notes

Discussion Group:
Birds of a feather : Getting Things Done with Lotus Notes

Please tell your friends to visit the IdeaJam site and vote today for the Lotusphere 2009 sessions!

Thanks!

My name is Eric Mack and I approve this message.