Often I am asked, “What is it Prima provides?”

When answering the question I have to decide, hmm, do I go with the stock answer and list all the services or does the questioner want to truly engage in a conversation regarding the talent technical communicators bring to the work environment.

In answering the above I would like to share an email I recently received from Stephanie Stamm, a Prima employee for over 10 years, who has worked in a variety of assignments.

From Stephanie:

“I’m struck again by how much of my job—and I’d bet this is true of most Primas—is making sure communication is happening between various clients.

For example, I received an email today from one of the sites asking me to post a number of documents to the HR library on the plant’s SharePoint website.

She also asked me to add a “Safety” folder to the HR library and upload a document there. Well, there is a separate Safety library on each plant’s site and a similar, but not identical, document was already uploaded in that library. So I emailed her the following (copying the Safety Manager):

As far as Safety goes, there is a 1.0 Safety library where Safety documents are located. The “General Safety Work Rules” document you sent is similar to, but not exactly the same as a document that is already uploaded, 1.02 General Plant and Safety Rules. Rather than having two documents that might possibly conflict, I’d suggest you work with [your Safety Manager] to make sure all the relevant items are covered in 1.02. I won’t upload the “General Safety Work Rules” until I hear from you or [him] about that one.

I got a reply back from the Safety Manager, saying he agreed and all safety-related documents should be under the Safety library.

I guess another way to put all this is that a lot of times our job involves NOT doing exactly what we are asked to do, but figuring out what the client really needs instead.”

Technical communications is more than tools and the ability to write. A true technical communicator is going to understand the mission of the organization and the intricacies of their communications tools (both internal and external).

This is kind of a workaround, but it’s the best solution I’ve found so far for getting a Google Calendar onto a WordPress page – including the tasty iframe!

Check out the Google Calendar working on a WordPress page here to make sure it’s what you’re looking for.

You’re going to need three things:

• A Google Calendar
• The Random / Rotating Ads V2 plugin
• The PHP Execution plugin

Get the plugins, install and activate.

Go to your Google Calendar’s settings and select the Calendar Details tab:

Then click the Calendar Address HTML button:

And click the link for the configuration tool:

Adjust your settings and copy the HTML -yes all of it, including the iframe stuff!

Go to your WordPress Tools and click Datafeedr Random Ads:

Click Add New Group at the top of the page. Name the group “calendar” (or whatever you want, without the quote marks). Paste the Google Calendar HTML into the Ad #1 field.

You can leave the Before and After fields blank:

Click Save Ad Group. Copy the line of PHP code that shows up next to your ad group:

Go to the WordPress page on which you’d like your Google Calendar. In the HTML editor, paste the line of  PHP code. I had to wrap mine in “code” tags, so you may want to do the same:

Publish/Update the page and take a look at your fancy new Google Calendar page!

Check out the Google Calendar working on a WordPress page here.

Pie is yummy.

I was at a small deli/bakery when the owner overheard me mention our blog. It went something like this:

Me: Blog blog blog.

Owner: You have a blog?

Me: *sniff* That’s right.

Owner: Can you post a positive review of my restaurant? We have a website, but if you Google our name the first link that comes up is a bad review. We must change this!

I wasn’t sure what to say. First of all, me putting a positive review up might not budge the bad one, regardless of my widely respected taste in delis and bakeries.

Second, if she has a website, why not address the review there?

• Invite the poster back for another piece of pie.
• Add enough happy customer reviews to tip the balance.
• And sure, ask other folks to post positive reviews on their sites, as long as they’re genuine.

Whatever you do, don’t let someone else build the bridge between you and your customers. They can do whatever they want with that bridge; burn it, park Hummers sideways on it, even put trolls underneath it.

What have you done so far this year to build your bridges?

The short and easy answer is, “It depends.”

The long and complicated answer is, “Is there such a thing as a social media guru? And if so, how can I be sure he or she knows how to help me or my company reach the people I need to?”

This is a very interesting article from BusinessWeek about the hype surrounding social networks, wikis, and blogs, and it could help you figure out your social media strategy.

Perrigo has released another YouTube video to attract talent to fill 60 positions. We salute Perrigo for their marketing smarts, and for bringing new jobs to our area!

Stryker Corporation is spending a hefty sum of $100 million to acquire two new companies - which could bring more jobs to our area. Thanks for making investments that could bring more stability to Michigan’s future, Stryker!

Join us at the MichBio Expo in the Radisson Plaza, downtown Kalamazoo.

In addition to providing tons of information about documentation, process mapping, and other technical wizardry, we’ll be offering attendees the opportunity to film a short video resume or personal statement that they can add to their LinkedIn profile or website.

If you’re attending the expo, stop by our booth and say hello, or give us a shout on Twitter @primatweet.

Download the Social Networking 101: A Primer for Professionals webinar (free) and let us know what you think!

Prima Virtual Triathlon 2009 - Escape the Heat!

We’re headed north to Hudson Bay and the world’s southernmost year-round polar bear population.

The team is small but the goals are the same. Get out, get active, and make the most of our summer weather. We will keep track of the actual miles we travel, translating walking, running, cycling, skating, and swimming miles into virtual progress along our route toward the arctic.

We will encounter some rough going in the northernmost part of our trip, where there are no roads. We will use railroad grades where possible, but we will also travel over some rough, rocky terrain. Because of this, we will want to log some other exercise points in order to translate the easy paved miles of our regular exercise into virtual travel over rocks and muskeg.

Primas who keep track of exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, indoor cardio sessions, or weight training, should record their time or repetitions and send these results to the triathlon tabulator in addition to the usual mileage reports. We can’t use these stationary minutes for mileage, but we will offer point credits toward the individual goals below:

Individual Standards

Gold star participation: 60 or more points (equivalent of walking to Grand Rapids)

Silver star participation: 45 or more points

Bronze star participation: 30 or more points

Point Values

• Walking or running 1 mile = 1 point
• Roller skating 2 miles = 1 point
• Bicycling 3 miles = 1 point
• Swimming 1 mile = 9 points
• Canoeing, kayaking:
  • Flatwater 1 mile = 1 point
  • Downriver miles = 0
• Other exercise modes = TBD (negotiate with Triathlon Tabulator)

A newsletter can be a great communications tool for various kinds of companies. If you’re thinking of starting one (and, if you don’t have one already, you almost certainly should be), it’s important to first determine your purpose:

• Do you want your newsletter to be more informational, with news from your field or industry—or more sales-oriented, with news about your products or services?
• Is your audience likely to respond better to an electronic newsletter, or a more traditional paper one? Should you do both?
• How will you appeal to both current and prospective clients or customers?
• What should the newsletter’s tone and look be—and what should they accomplish?

There’s a lot to settle on even before you start to draft content. But if you do this initial work, you’ll likely find you’ve laid the foundation for a well-thought-out and successful newsletter.

Revenues are down. Budgets are tighter than ever. Cost cutting measures are more important than ever before. How do we know? We’re there too. Investing in your business is important not only in times of fortune but also in these tight economic times. Focusing on efficiency, continuous improvement, and lean methodology can bring not only cost savings, but increased productivity, streamlined processes, and many other business and quality benefits.

Prima’s trained professionals offer lean documentation consulting to manufacturing companies in a range of industries, and we’ve designed a training program to share our vast expanse of knowledge gained through this experience with your team. Our lean documentation training program is designed to impart our holistic and practical approach to lean documentation methodology, and will educate your professionals in a manner that readies them to apply it back in your business. For more information on Prima’s training offerings, contact us.

Now we know cost is a concern – that’s why we encourage you to take advantage of the Incumbent Worker Training Program offered by Michigan WORKS to make lean documentation training within your budget. The Incumbent Worker Training Program covers training costs for your employees up to $20,000. Note: The deadline is fast approaching! Applications are due September 25 by 4pm. For eligibility information, contact Michigan Works! Business Services Team member, Suprotik Stotz-Ghosh at (269) 349-1533.