THE AUGUST GROUP NEWSLETTER

March 24, 2008

Volume 2, Number 12

In this Issue.

Upcoming Events

Lunch, Learn and Link! - Tuesday March 25. Lunch included with registration fee. See the website links below for details. Take both sessions for $20.

• LinkedIn 101 - Getting Started, 11:30am – 1:00pm.
• LinkedIn 102 – Advanced Mastery, 1:00pm – 2:00pm.

Reservations requested via email linkedin@excelsiorsp.com. Space is limited.

Jumpstart: Prioritizing and Productively tracking your contacts Wednesday March 26, 11:00am – 1:00pm.

Society for Technical Communication, Annual Conference open to all Friday March 28, 8:00am – 5:30pm.

Digital Rochester Networking Event @ MAX of Eastman Place Tuesday April 1, 5:30pm – 7:30pm

Flexible Workforce Monthly Meeting - Looking to work , but not full-time Check out this group Tuesday April 8, 11:30am – 1:00pm.

Send calendar additions to calendar@augustgroup.org

Are you willing to assist enhance the content of this section of the newsletter?

We're looking for members to populate the calendar with events of interest.
If so, send an email to newsletter@augustgroup.org.  It gets better with your
input and contributions.

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Words to Ponder

• "I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it."
  - Stephen Leacock

• "We may affirm absolutely that nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion."
  - George Hegel

• "That is the saving grace of humor, if you fail no one is laughing at you."
  – A Whitney Brown

Got a thought to share?  Send it to newsletter@augustrgroup.org and put
"Words to Ponder" in the Subject Line.

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Member Announcements

Have an announcement to share?
 

Here you can share so many things. You're a new member and want share your elevator speech.  You never know who might spot it, perhaps a recruiter or business owner looking for someone just like you.

Perhaps you've landed a new position and wish to share the story and gratitude.

Maybe you are coordinating an event for community or charity and seek support.

This is where we'll post it.  This section reflects our members. Make contributions.

It's all about members for members and more here. Send your email to newsletter@augustgroup.org.

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Feature Articles

• POWER Networking Works! JumpStart Accelerates!!

• Outside the Circle

• The August Group registers with LinkedIn

Have an article to contribute?  We welcome your contributions.  Make a difference. Share a story.  Submit it to newsletter@augustgroup.org.

Got a story idea?  Submit  it to newsletter@augustgroup.org.

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Job Postings

Hidden jobs are welcomed for sharing at jobs@augustgroup.org.  If the job your neighbor, friend or family shared with you is not right for you, it might be perfect for an August Group colleague.  This is a great place for practicing "give to get." With 1600 members, what can happen here when members own the content?

We welcome volunteers to coordinate the job postings on a weekly basis. Employers and members submit jobs that must be readied for inclusion in the newsletter.  A lack of help means fewer jobs get posted in a timely manner. Why not be the first one to see new postings??!!
 

NEW Postings this week

• Toxicology Technician (2 positions) – Ethox

• Agency Analyst – Paychex

• Analyst/Progammer (PHP/Drupal) – U of R

• Senior Software Quality Engineer – Pittsford

Previously posted jobs

See the August Group Newsletter Archives

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Small Companies That You Might not Know About

While so many members pursue the major employers in our community, there are numerous small and growing companies that go ignored trying to find talent.  Know of a small company then share it here providing nothing more than a link to its homepage. How easy does it get?  Send your contributions to newsletter@augustgroup.org with Small Company in the Subject line.
 

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Feature Articles

POWER Networking Works! JumpStart Accelerates!!
Contributed by John Bayley

From tracking some of the August Group members who landed positions in 2007 we discovered some data and statistics you might be interested in. Below is a list of companies that our members landed in last year (multiples have been removed). Also below are the job titles of the members who landed.

Out of the members that landed, 75% were members of Power Networking Groups. 60% had attended the Jumpstart Program to improve their networking skills.

So…. What are you waiting for?

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Outside the Circle – written by Boaz Rauchwerger
Shared by John Bayley, Vistage Chair

When things fall apart in life, and they do from time to time for all of us, the natural tendency is to think about ourselves and to get depressed.

During this particular time, with everything that's happening with home mortgages, many people are facing difficult challenges. For some people, I would imagine that their world is being turned upside down.

Since much of my work is with people's attitudes, I got to thinking the other day about attitude and life challenges.

When we feel barraged by problems, fear can become overwhelming. All kinds of negative thoughts begin to swirl in our minds and we can sometimes feel as if we can't get off the merry-go-round. It seems to be going faster and faster and all we want to do is flip the switch and stop it.

Thus, in challenging moments, let's imagine negative thoughts going round and round in an endless circle of stress and worry. As long as we keep that circle going in our minds, thoughts are turned inwardly.

If you find yourself in such a situation, I have a suggestion. Stop the circle of thought by breaking out of it.

The way to break out of it is by helping someone else. Find someone who is also going through a difficult time and encourage them. That's right, encourage someone else.

When we take the focus off of our problems, by getting out of the circle, we allow the power of the brain to work with less interference. By refocusing, for even a few minutes at a time, the brain can relax and do
its magic.

You have more power in your brain than any computer man could ever create. Let that power work and you may be surprised by the ideas that come to you.

You may actually have some solutions to your problems. But those solutions will have a difficult time showing up if they're surrounded by a circle of fear.

Let's see what can be done to cheer up somebody else, to encourage someone, to tell them that you believe in them. Then watch what happens in your own life.

Perhaps its time to think outside the circle.

A Break-The-Circle Affirmation
When I face difficult challenges, I reach out to other people and encourage them.

Want to supercharge your corporation?
Need a powerful speaker for your event?
Contact us at: Boaz@BoazPower.com or 619-723-3007

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The August Group registers with LinkedIn

LinkedIn Groups add Authentication

LinkedIn has enhanced the value of Groups recently adding an authentication procedure. Previously it was assumed that LinkedIn members would honorably list in their profiles those groups to which they were truly belonged. It’s been observed that this is not the case. LinkedIn refined the Groups function. Now groups can register with LinkedIn and one’s membership in a group must be authenticated. When authenticated your profile will display the group’s logo in your profile.

The Value of LinkedIn Groups

What’s the value of Groups? To connect with other LinkedIn members you must know them well enough to invite them. It is assumed that people you know well, that you’ll know their email address. It’s also assumed that if you are a member of a group that you may share common interests yet not know all members well enough to have their email addresses. The August Group would be a great example. Members from 2002 are not likely to bump into members of 2005 or today, yet all share a common interest in networking.

The Value of Joining The August Group’s LinkedIn Group

When a new member joins The August Group they come seeking connections in general sessions at The Bagel Bin or St. Cecilia’s. The challenge is that they are limited to making connections with only those people they meet in that session. There are now 1000’s who have attended The August Group and who qualify as members. If you take each member and their LinkedIn connections each member would have access to millions of connections and contacts online. The most difficult challenge is finding contacts. LinkedIn enables the finding. The August Group facilitates making the connections real with warm introductions and face to face meetings. All August Group members benefit adding their affiliation to The August Group to their LinkedIn profile. If you’re looking to connect to millions, and that is not an exaggerated claim, then become a LinkedIn member and join The August Group within LinkedIn.

Joining LinkedIn and LinkedIn’s August Group Group (Did I say that correctly?)

Joining LinkedIn is easy. Go to LinkedIn and you can become a member in 2-3 minutes. To learn more about this tool either play with it or visit Upcoming Events section to learn about upcoming training.

To join the LinkedIn Group for The August Group there are two requirements.

1. You must demonstrate your networking inclination and abilities. The August Group is all about networking and making connections. The mantra is “Give to get.” Members who practice this will have the 50 connections required to become a member of this group. When you have achieved 50 connections you will have demonstrated that you too are a connector.
   
   NOTE – you can be a member of The August Group, with less than 50 LinkedIn connections. You WILL NOT be a member of The August Group’s LinkedIn Group until you reach 50 connections.

2. We will verify your participation in The August Group either past or
   present.

No one will be initially rejected for failing either of these requirements. After your request is made you will have 30 days to meet both authentication and 50 connections requirements. If these requirements are not met in that time frame your request will be rejected and you will be instructed as to how you might achieve membership in the future. If connecting to millions or simply hundreds matters to you and will assist you, then join LinkedIn, learn the tool and connect with The August Group within LinkedIn.

For the skeptical go to the Media Coverage page where articles from Fortune, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Time and other leading publications regularly feature this game changing online application that is networking for professionals. You'll find the Fortune Magazine article "Why you'll finally use LinkedIn" most interesting.

Join TAG Group in LinkedIn by clicking on this link.
 

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Job Postings

New job postings this week

Toxicology Technician (2 positions) – Ethox International - STS Life Sciences Division

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Evaluations using small lab animals.

• Animal handling, restraint weighing, temperature monitoring, identification, observations, administration of materials, specimen collection.

• Extract preparation.

• Biocompatibility assessments.

• Pharmacology research support.

• Documentation via reports, data sheets, SOPs and notebooks.

• Animal health monitoring.

Qualifications/Requirements:

• BS or AAS in Biology, Lab Animal Science or Veterinary Technologist.

• GLP/GMP/ISO experience.

Send cover letter and resume by email to sandy.paiko@sts.ethoxint.com by fax to: 866-812-6808.

BTW, they’re also looking for a Microbiology Director. For more information call Sandy at (585) 533-1672 x-428.

To learn more about Ethox visit their website at www.ethoxsts.com.

Please feel free to forward this notice to qualified candidates you may know.

Tell them that you learned about this opportunity through The August Group newsletter.

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Agency Analyst (08010J2) – Paychex

Responsibilities:

• Demonstrating advanced and comprehensive job knowledge of all insurance lines and their corresponding systems.

• Establishing and maintaining ongoing relationships with various business partners including Insurance carrier, general agents and other agencies as necessary.

• Providing assistance with system planning, liaison with IT and insurance carriers for integration and development of systems.

• Taking appropriate action to eliminate or mitigate financial risk.

• Monitoring adherence of applicable federal and state insurance regulations, as well as internal policies and procedures.

• Understanding the business needs by actively contributing to the departmental business objectives.

• Coordinating special projects, including procedural changes and systems implementation.

• Resolving escalated issues and makes sound judgment calls.

• Working with appropriate supervisors, analysts and specialists to adequately research, document and suggest improvements of existing processes, development of new processes and department work flow.

• Supporting the management team with financial and statistical reporting to increase productivity, retain data through development of Microsoft Access databases and Excel Spreadsheets.

• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements:

• Bachelors in Business Management, Accounting or Finance and a minimum of 3 years of related insurance experience or the equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Proficient with Access and Excel.

• Life Accident and Health and/or Property and Casualty license preferred.

To apply, please visit www.paychex.com/careers and apply for reference code position 08010J2.

Tell them that you learned about this opportunity through The August Group newsletter.

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Analyst/Progammer (PHP/Drupal) Digital Initiatives – U of R, River Campus Libraries

Responsible for the development of web-based software (including web user interface, backend database, and web services) for a "next generation" library web presence. This position is part of the eXtensible Catalog project to develop a suite of open-source next-generation library web applications.

Reports to the eXtensible Catalog Project software project manager.

High-profile project will offer the selected candidate an opportunity to work with a range of prominent developers from distinguished partner institutions.

Salary is commensurate with background and experience. Excellent benefits include choice of retirement programs including TIAA/CREF.

40 hours per week, 12-18 month temporary position, full-time benefits included.

Paid vacation and seven calendar holidays. Tuition benefits.

Functionality to be developed:

• Development of a set of PHP add-on modules for the content management system Drupal.

• Search engine user interface with faceted-browsing of results.

• Integration of open-source Java software including:

  • SOLR/Lucene for indexing and search of content

  • Open-source code that implements OAI-PMH services, the NCIP protocol and LDAP authentication

• Back-end SQL database (designed to store imported XML documents of various schema).

• Development of a taxonomy and folksonomy feature that works with imported LC subject headings.

• Tagging and tag clouds.

• Database design to enable storage of user-generated metadata with support for reuse by other systems.

• Responsible for finding and reusing code written elsewhere when it is appropriate to the project's objectives. Candidate will need to make decisions on whether to reuse or build from scratch based on limited information.

Requirements:

• Education and experience in PHP, SQL, CSS, XML, and Java.

• Knowledge and experience working with Drupal content management system (strongly preferred).

• Experience or some familiarity with the following technologies (preferred). Each of these technologies and standards will be integrated as part of this project:

  • SOLR with embedded Lucene for indexing and search

  • OAI-PMH protocol for metadata harvesting

  • LDAP and Active Directory for authentication

  • MARC and Dublin Core as the metadata schema to package and transmit data

  • Library of Congress authority headings

• Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field (required).

• Previous web development work on database driven web sites (co-op experience acceptable).

• Familiarity with software design methods, models, and standards. (required).

• Excellent interpersonal skills as well as technical aptitude (required).

Duties:

• Programming, Testing, and Documentation.

  • Work in an environment that includes the Subversion version control system, Eclipse editor and Microsoft Project for project planning, tracking and oversight.

  • Emphasis is placed on quickly getting up to speed on technologies, user interfaces and local conventions.

• Software Engineering, Implementation and Testing.

  • Produce well designed, documented, and tested code for the "next-generation" library platform.

  • Leverage a variety of available open-source software.

• Communication.

  • Collaborate with a team of programmers responsible for other modules of the overall system to insure component interfaces will interoperate successfully.

  • Work with other institutions to learn about and troubleshoot open-source code reused in this project.

To apply, please send resume with three references and a cover letter describing web development experience and languages used to: University of Rochester, Rush Rhees Library.

Kelley M. Kitrinos, HR Administrator Rochester, NY 14627-0055 or send email to RCLHR@library.rochester.edu. 

Tell them that you learned about this opportunity through The August Group newsletter.

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Senior Software Quality Engineer – Pittsford

Requires excellent technical, communication and customer service skills and experience in the application of software QA, V&V processes and related SW tools, QA document writing, and QSR/ISO auditing in a regulated 21CFR Part 820/ISO 9001:2000 medical device environment.

Responsible for project specific SQA activities including the writing, review, and maintenance of V&V Plans, test protocols and related documentation from concept design through execution and issuance of summary reports.

Will perform gap analyses of customer processes, audit customer/internal software development processes, write project specific documentation, and perform other duties as required by business needs.

A 4 year degree in a scientific discipline with 5+ years experience is required.

ASQ-CQM/CQE, strong project \management, software development process understanding and BL2 lab, CAPA, experience are desired.

Familiarity with C/C++/C#, IVDD devices, HIPPA, a plus.

Please submit resume to John Bayley at jbayley@augustgroup.org.
 

Tell them that you learned about this opportunity through The August Group newsletter.

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