Alright, so I didn’t post the photos, I didn’t even take the camera. Crud! I’m trying to get back on the blogging band wagon, really I am.

Today, I have found a new love the open source software. Our MS Exchange server bombed out sometime around noon today and we have been without email for the past 4 hours. Word has come that they are on the horn with Microsoft, but they don’t really know what is wrong. The interesting thing about Open Source versus proprietary is the possibility of getting a temporary solution up and going rather quickly on limited resources.

Seeing how most open source is free, an IT department could take an old beige box that has just enough horsepower, some software (Samba, Sendmail, Courier’s imap server, Apache, Squirrelmail, Spamassassin, ClamAV, openLDAP with PostgreSQL database as a backend, Thunderbird) and any flavor of Linux OS and you can have a temporary solution up and running in as much time as it takes to install everything or plug the box in and power it up if you are disaster ready.

I’m not trying to speak poorly of our IT department, but the entire School of Business has ground to a halt waiting for their email to come back up. We shall see how long it takes

First off, let me catch my breath for a second.

Phew! I feel like I have been running non-stop since coming back from my sister’s graduation. I started my new job the day after we got back, that has been interesting and very, very exhausting. I feel like I have been run ragged. Not that the job is very hard, but I have had a ton of meetings and more meetings after each meeting. I was in training all day yesterday with Ryan from Space150. I have a much better handle on Microsoft Content Management Server which means that I will finally start to do my job. I also had a meeting with my boss about how we can launch a viewbook with a micro-site, which might involve a blog or two. I put together all my research about blogs this morning, breaking it down by service, cost, etc. It should be interesting to start launching blogs at a school that is really behind making the web their marketing vehicle.

Let me think. What else has happened… Oh yeah! We got a new cat.

Slideshow

His name is Magnus, because he’s huge, he’s a massive cat, compared to the other cats that I have had. I’m sure he’ll be the feature of many a’ blog post.

I also went to a Norfolk Tides baseball game. A buddy of mine got tickets to a box from work, so we had a great view. Sky box #9, with free food. It truly is the only way to watch baseball. The Tides lost, but the evening was still enjoyable. I really need to get it together with my camera and a video camera so I can post this stuff online… add that to my list.

This afternoon I took sometime off from work to meet with my new boss. After nearly forgetting my checkbook, for direct deposit, and my passport and SSN card, for identification, I made it to the campus of the College of William and Mary. It was not easy to find parking, apparently the Queen is coming, so most of the normal parking was blocked off, probably for security’s sake.

I filled out the requisite paperwork, W-4, VA-4, personnel information, all of which is rote now.

After the paperwork was done, I finally got a chance to meet with my new boss. I didn’t really know what to expect, so I came up with a list of goals that I thought would be applicable, even though I had no idea what I was walking into. My list was solid and after going over her goals, I found that I right on with my guesses.

It was also conveyed to me that out of several applicants I had the best mix of the three qualities that are needed in the position (even if it isn’t true, that will be my framework), but that I needed to work on my presentation skills. That is fine for me because I have really never had a chance to present. She said that she wants me to work with an MBA professor who teaches presentation skills. That combined with the training that she wants to me to get for the CMS says that this is definitely a long-haul position.

I guess this position means that I am the master of my own (sub)domain. :)

I recently read a blog posting which linked over to Kelly Johnson’s 14 Rules of Management and I was intrigued by his principles of management and how they can relate to a design shop. I have been interested in Skunk Works ever since I had read a Popular Mechanics article on the organization just after the first Gulf War and learning of Kelly’s rules of management, I immediately been can to co-relate them to running a design shop. Below are Kelly’s rules of management with my thoughts on each and how they relate to design management immediately below. They are numbered SWD: Skunk Works Design.

1. The Skunk Works manager must be delegated practically complete control of his program in all aspects. He should report to a division president or higher.
   

   SWD 1. If the project manager must have control of the project.

2. Strong but small project offices must be provided both by the military and industry.
   

   SWD 2. Small, competent teams should be provided by all parts of the project (web, print, programming, etc.)

3. The number of people having any connection with the project must be restricted in an almost vicious manner. Use a small number of good people (10% to 25% compared to the so-called normal systems).
   

   SWD 3. A project does not need everyone’s input, especially on the client side.

4. A very simple drawing and drawing release system with great flexibility for making changes must be provided.
   

   SWD 4. The project system should facilitate that changes be made easily.

5. There must be a minimum number of reports required, but important work must be recorded thoroughly.
   

   SWD 5. The project system should not get in the way of the design process, although client documentation of approval must be recorded.

6. There must be a monthly cost review covering not only what has been spent and committed but also projected costs to the conclusion of the program. Don’t have the books ninety days late and don’t surprise the customer with sudden overruns.
   

   SWD 6. Project costs should be reviewed regularly by the team, any changes or projected changes in costs should be reported to the client immediately.

7. The contractor must be delegated and must assume more than normal responsibility to get good vendor bids for subcontract on the project. Commercial bid procedures are very often better than military ones.
   

   SWD 7. If you have to subcontract out, make it for less than you charge but that you are willing to take responsibility for the results

8. The inspection system as currently used by the Skunk Works, which has been approved by both the Air Force and Navy, meets the intent of existing military requirements and should be used on new projects. Push more basic inspection responsibility back to subcontractors and vendors. Don’t duplicate so much inspection.
   

   SWD 8. Basic proofing should be done well before the client sees the project. Proofing should be done by those who will directly approve the project.

9. The contractor must be delegated the authority to test his final product in flight. He can and must test it in the initial stages. If he doesn’t, he rapidly loses his competency to design other vehicles.
   

   SWD 9. The client should be kept up to date with thumbnails, sketches and rough ideas initially, if not you are designing it wrong.

10. The specifications applying to the hardware must be agreed to well in advance of contracting. The Skunk Works practice of having a specification section stating clearly which important military specification items will not knowingly be complied with and reasons therefore is highly recommended.
    

    SWD 10. Specifications for the project must be spelled out well in advance.

11. Funding a program must be timely so that the contractor doesn’t have to keep running to the bank to support government projects.
    

    SWD 11. Billing, invoicing or charging should be quick. Don’t leave the client guessing what the bill will be.

12. There must be mutual trust between the military project organization and the contractor with very close cooperation and liaison on a day-to-day basis. This cuts down misunderstanding and correspondence to an absolute minimum.
    

    SWD 12. There must be trust between the project manager and the client. If daily updates are needed, they should be given to cut down on misunderstandings. If they are not needed, don’t do them.

13. Access by outsiders to the project and its personnel must be strictly controlled by appropriate security measures.
    

    SWD 13. Clients should not interact with the design team, they should interact with project managers. Maintain a sense of team security.

14. Because only a few people will be used in engineering and most other areas, ways must be provided to reward good performance by pay not based on the number of personnel supervised.
    

    SWD 14. Rewards should be based on performance, those who consistently hit the mark should be rewarded more.

What do think about these Skunk Work Design rules?

Tomorrow I am attending the local PRSA conference with some of my coworkers. It’s about blogging in higher education and digital newsrooms (fancy blogs?). It really sounds like something that I will get something out of. I will be attempting to “live blog” the event, but I don’t know if the location has wifi. Plenty of pictures will be up with it though.

** Update **

One of my coworkers sent an email to the Norfolk Botanical Gardens and asked about internet access / wifi. The response she got was close to this:

We do not have wifi access and there are only a couple of computers in the library section. They don't have access to myspace, hotmail, yahoo mail or many other sites.

This seems a little odd that a conference about blogging and “new internet media” is in a place that doesn’t have internet access. I still plan on bringing my laptop, but instead I will be “off-line blogging”, writing about the conference, taking photos and putting together a mega-blog post after the event, when I have wifi access again.