Raintree .....Ecotel

News from home town:

Rain Tree Hotel in Chennai, was on Wednesday awarded the Ecotel certification by the US-based HVS International, the authorised licensee of Ecotel.

Mr Geoff Magee, CEO, The Rain Tree Hotel, said this was the first hotel in south India to get the Ecotel certification. The Ecotel certification is based on five areas of environmentalism — conservation of energy and water, solid waste management, employee environmental education and an environment commitment.

Mr Manav Thadani, Managing Director, HVS International, said that only four other hotels in India have qualified for the Ecotel certification.

The Ecotel Collection is a group of international inns, hotels and resorts that define the concept of environmental responsibility in the hospitality industry. All Ecotel certified hotels must pass a detailed inspection and satisfy stringent criteria set by environment experts , he said.Ecotel Collection began in 1994 when the New York Vista Hotel reopened as the world's first Ecotel certified hotel after the bombing of the World Trade Centre. Mr Thandani said since then over 1,100 hotels, resorts and inns have applied for the certification. Currently, there are 36 Ecotel hotels in the world.

Pretty Cool eh!

Source: Businessline

Blogging & Career

Boston Globe article lists 8 reasons why blogging is essential for your career

Blogging creates a network.
Blogging can get you a job.
Blogging is great training.
Blogging helps you move up quickly.
Blogging makes self-employment easier.
Blogging provides more opportunities.
Blogging could be your big break.
Blogging makes the world a better place.

Tim Bray, who now works at Sun Microsystems, goes the Globe one or two better with 10 reasons why Blogging is Good.

You have to get noticed to get promoted.

You have to get noticed to get hired.

It really impresses people when you say “Oh, I’ve written about that, just google for XXX and I’m on the top page” or “Oh, just google my name.”

No matter how great you are, your career depends on communicating. The way to get better at anything, including communication, is by practicing. Blogging is good practice.

Bloggers are better-informed than non-bloggers. Knowing more is a career advantage.

Knowing more also means you’re more likely to hear about interesting jobs coming open.

Networking is good for your career. Blogging is a good way to meet people.

If you’re an engineer, blogging puts you in intimate contact with a worse-is-better 80/20 success story. Understanding this mode of technology adoption can only help you.

If you’re in marketing, you’ll need to understand how its rules are changing as a result of the current whirlwind, which nobody does, but bloggers are at least somewhat less baffled.

It’s a lot harder to fire someone who has a public voice, because it will be noticed.

via: Don Dodge

Blogs ....Career Impact

Boston Globe article lists 8 reasons why blogging is essential for your career

Blogging creates a network.
Blogging can get you a job.
Blogging is great training.
Blogging helps you move up quickly.
Blogging makes self-employment easier.
Blogging provides more opportunities.
Blogging could be your big break.
Blogging makes the world a better place.

Tim Bray, who now works at Sun Microsystems, goes the Globe one or two better with 10 reasons why Blogging is Good.

You have to get noticed to get promoted.

You have to get noticed to get hired.

It really impresses people when you say “Oh, I’ve written about that, just google for XXX and I’m on the top page” or “Oh, just google my name.”

No matter how great you are, your career depends on communicating. The way to get better at anything, including communication, is by practicing. Blogging is good practice.

Bloggers are better-informed than non-bloggers. Knowing more is a career advantage.

Knowing more also means you’re more likely to hear about interesting jobs coming open.

Networking is good for your career. Blogging is a good way to meet people.

If you’re an engineer, blogging puts you in intimate contact with a worse-is-better 80/20 success story. Understanding this mode of technology adoption can only help you.

If you’re in marketing, you’ll need to understand how its rules are changing as a result of the current whirlwind, which nobody does, but bloggers are at least somewhat less baffled.

It’s a lot harder to fire someone who has a public voice, because it will be noticed.

via: Don Dodge

World's most modern management - in India - HCL

Fortune carried an article with a similar title ...where it highlights the management practices implemented in HCL techologies and the results there in , Nice to see an Indian Company achieve this.

Some excerpts from the same:

Vineet Nayar, president of India's 30,000-employee HCL Technologies (Research), is creating an IT outsourcing firm where, he says, employees come first and customers second."Everybody was aghast the first time I said that," admits Nayar.

Here are some things I can say about him with confidence: He is good at motivating employees, very committed to building a great team, but a little shaky on getting things done on time. These are not my observations. They are what his employees told him in an extraordinary process of upward evaluation he implemented last year at HCL.

Every employee rates their boss, their boss' boss, and any three other company managers they choose, on 18 questions using a 1-5 scale. Such 360-degree evaluations are not uncommon, but at HCL all results are posted online for every employee to see. That's un-heard-of!

And that's not all. Every HCL employee can at any time create an electronic "ticket" to flag anything they think requires action in the company.

Explains Nayar, "It can be 'I have a problem with my bonus,' or 'My seat is not working,' or 'My boss sucks.'" The ticket is routed to a manager for resolution.

WiFi City - Taipei

Q-ware says it is investing about $93 million to build the network
More than 10,000 wireless access points will be in service
Providing coverage to 90% percent of Taipei's 2.65 million citizens
The network, dubbed WIFLY, costs NT399 (Rs 550, $12) per month.

More details here

Via Emergic

Google Calendar

Google Calendar....LIVE(ooops...beta)...I am checking it out right now.

Innovation Driven Model

Check out post at A VC

Technical Innovation vs Business Model Innovation
We invest in innovation; new ideas, new products, new services, and new approaches to the marketplace that result in opportunities to build new businesses.

Over the years, entrepreneurs have been mostly known for technical innovations. And there are many great companies that have been built on top of technical innovations like Intel, Cisco, Oracle, Apple, and arguably Microsoft.

But I wonder if business model innovation isn't as powerful, maybe a more powerful opportunity to build a new business.

Art of Executive Summary....

Guy Kawasaki has a nice post up on writing a good executive summary....its a little long .....but has some good ideas

Writing a Compelling Executive Summary :

the key components that should be part of your executive summary:

1. The Grab
2. The Problem
3. The Solution
4. The Opportunity
5. Your Competitive Advantage
6. The Model
7. The Team
8. The Promise ($$)
9. The Ask

Entreprenuers

THINK LOCAL.....THINK INDIA.....630 million people in India are of working age, projected to go up to 837 million by 2010 making India a continent of consumers in six years.