Forum Of Note: Conflict Management

It's been a while since I've done this, although a lot of people have sent in great suggestions! (keep it up)

Today's forum of note is Conflict management, which is run by Ehteshamul Haque and moderated by Sujeet, Pain is my fuel, and Hanspeter.

What made this forum really stick out to me was the fact that it was not some "cheap advice" forum operating on theory, but rather real solutions for the real world.

Some interesting conversations include:

• Resolving conflict between two different bosses


• Getting work done at work (for all you procrastinators)


• Surviving the politics of rival departments (I've been there before)


• And last, how to deal with those "Mr. Know-It-All's"

For those of you fortunate enough to work at a company where its "every person for him/herself," then this forum is definitely for you.

Do you have a forum you think I should cover? Let me know by shooting me an email.

Note: Will add this forum underneath Forums of Note in the sidebar.

An Orkut Novel In The Making?

(Hat Tip: Gautam Ghosh)

Abhijit, author of the book Mediocre But Arrogant, is asking users for help writing his next novel based on his previous book.

(Mediocre But Arrogant forum) I want to build the sequel to "Mediocre But Arrogant" with this community. So if you have friends who want to participate in this live experiment, feel free to invite them to the community. If the idea fits in to the story in part or fully you will see it in print in the sequel and I will acknowledge your contribution in the preface.

What do you say? I think Gautam always has great ideas. Let's write the sequel together. You may have your own experience or know of stuff that has happened to others that you feel is unique. Just write it out here.

I have not read the book although you can see a quick review on Gautam's blog. I have seen several forums dedicated towards writing stories, (where authors can exchange ideas) but this is the first attempt that I've seen where users can submit feedback that will directly end up in a book.

Note: Semi-related, but if there are any aspiring authors out there looking for publishers, this forum post may prove useful. Although if they do not suit your taste, then you may want try Lulu.com.

Orkut Cute Upgrades With Boss Mode

Orkut Cute (now at version 8.8.2) has recently added the "boss mode," which basically enables users to hide the software program from their screen (via key command).



Users may want to change the default setting from Shift + A, as you may find it rather irritating with Orkut Cute disappearing and reappearing from view.

I also noticed that the software uploads forums a lot faster than before, and also only displays the updated ones instead of all of the communities at once (which was slightly annoying).

Orkut Cute has come a long way since it first came on the scene, and with its integration with Google Talk seems to have made it a hit within the orkutsphere, especially among Brazilians.

Note: With Google recently adding SMS (in celebration of its third birthday), I wonder if Alexandre Peres (the creator) will consider an SMS service to Orkut Cute as well?

How Much Is Your Orkut Community Worth?

Despite the fact that Google controls the hosting of the forum (as well as its ultimate powers), that has not stopped one business from actually purchasing admin rights to one very popular forum on Orkut.

(Google Blogoscoped) Floripa, also known as Florianopolis, is the capital city of the state Santa Catarina in Brazil, and there is one Orkut community specifically for Floripa lovers. The community, titled "Eu AMO Floripa!" ("I LOVE Floripa"), assembled over 74,000 members over time. This size made it interesting for marketers - so interesting in fact that the original owner of the community, Bruno Unger, a guy in his mid-twenties, was able to "sell it off" to an agency for roughly $934 (2,000 Brazil reais), as Googlaxy informed me. The agency is now using the moderation rights that were transferred to them to push an event called "Floripa Tem" (a kind of sports/ music/ food/ fun festival to promote the city, if I understand it right).

Although this boils down to roughly USD 79 cents per user, buying a community for under a $1,000 may seem like a good marketing idea, especially if your company is located in either Brazil or India.

But if Bruno Unger could sell his forum to a company that seems to be (IMHO) spamming its members, I wonder if other people could potentially sell their forums out to respective buyers.

Orkut Not Corporate Friendly?

(via Promocharger.com)

I am not too surprised at this, as in the states many managers will fire employees for surfing on Orkut, MySpace, Facebook, etc. on company time.

It appears however in India, managers are taking a smarter approach--banning Orkut from the corporate network.

(Hindustan Times) Alpesh Kapadia, a middle-level executive in a Mumbai-based software services' major, is livid. His company recently blocked Orkut, the social networking website owned by Google. [...]

"I used Orkut to network with people with similar tastes," says Kapadia. A software developer, he used the site to meet Linux applications developers and discuss new technologies. He also pursued his interest in music through the site, and planned weekends with friends.

"If you block these sites, employees who frequent them during office hours get upset. But if you don't, there is a tendency for employees to visit these sites too frequently. This is counter-productive," said Khushroo Pithawala, senior vice-president, Datamatics.

Although there are ways to get around these blocks (as any Google search will reveal) it probably is best to find some way to compromise with management over accessing Orkut (perhaps setting up some Orkut friendly computers during lunch break).

Some users (not blogged here) have actually convinced management that Orkut was good for employee morale, although they pretty much begged their bosses everyday about it.

Note: An interesting point from the article was that some employees were using Orkut to find new jobs, something I posted about several months ago.

Orkut's Hidden Millions (And How Google's Losing Out)

I stated earlier in this blog that Orkut has the potential of becoming another major source of revenue for the search engine king.

Although half of these involve indirect ways Orkut could benefit Google (through integration of its various services) they would none-the-less help diversify Google's cash flow as it's too heavily dependent on Ad Sense and print ads.

Here are four ways that I see Google profiting from Orkut.

1. Google Checkout: Many users already use the Internet to order books, music, packages, paintings, etc. online and I would not be surprised if many users do this on Orkut.
   
   Unfortunately, there is no way for them to do business within Orkut, so the most they can do is say, "here's my paypal email address" or send in the check via snail mail.
   
   Orkut could remove this barrier by allowing users to use Google Checkout as a means of exchanging cash between the buyer and the seller.


2. Picasa Web Albums: Although Orkut already has an album, it is pretty ghetto in my honest opinion. Although Joga's is an improvement, limiting album size based on amount is probably the wrong way to go.
   
   Orkut could eliminate this by having users upload photo's to Picasa Web Albums and having their images display on their photo albums. Users could then decide if they want to upgrade, which would benefit both Google and its millions of users.


3. License Forum Technology: I am not aware of how much money NikeFootBall.com paid Orkut to develop and maintain their site, but it must have been a kings ransom as one can easily see how much better Joga is compared to Orkut.
   
   With all of the Orkut clones popping up (with more on on the way) Google could easily license these for about $50-$70 as some companies are willing to pay up to $1000 or more for an exact copy of Orkut.
   
   Perhaps if they included it as part of a future premium Google Apps for Your Domain they may find many small businesses willing to pay annually (or even monthly) to have the Orkut team build them their own community forums.


4. Premium Accounts: With all of the spamming going around in the forums, this last one could be used to help separate legitimate businesses from those who are evil not.
   
   Premium users could pay a monthly fee and be able to post items from their Froogle store (like images of their product) on their business profile. Tying this in with Google Checkout would be convenient, although allowing extra options for payment (via PayPal, credit card, etc.) would be recommended.

Although Orkut could make money easily off the Ad Sense ads, some users have become annoyed by them and have asked me if I knew how to remove them from Orkut (since I was able to help out with the Joga Ad a long time ago).

Note: I'll continue to update this list as more ideas come along, although if anyone else has any other suggestions you can either scrap me or comment below.

Global Trade, Orkut Style

For many people Orkut is a place to find the next date, talk with friends, spam the world (may they be flogged stopped) or find an interesting hobby to share.

But many people do not realize that a lot of businesses use the forums not only to hire people but also to find contacts to market their goods around the world.

A prime example of this can be found in the Import-Export forum (which has become fairly active this month) where you can find:

• Anneke (originally from the Netherlands) helping businesses from Pakistan, India, etc. locate buyers and importers in her home country for their various products (which range from shoes to musical instruments to polyurethane foam).



• Sanjay and Jimmy are offering their export services, and their seems to be plenty of clients for the both of them.



• Konstantin is looking to import products to Europe (he's not picky about the type) and has already received several replies.

Much more could be sited in other forums (but I lack the time to cover them) so if you have a business with a global outreach you may want to consider getting your share of the profits by joining Orkut.

75,000 Dollars Worth Of Business?

If anyone (or rather any company) is looking for some extra cash within the IT industry, their is a post by ERP WAR in the Startups forum looking to contract some IT geeks professionals with his company.

Hi! I Help companies in US & Uk to get thr project done at a very low cost in Indian offshore development centres.I'm looking for an offshore development centre for J2EE Financial project.
Description.

J2EE Financial applications, supporting/enhancing current applications, developing new applications, and assisting on a data conversion project.This is a contract assignment expected to last through Mid of 2007.
Project cost estimation- around 75000$

People are already submitting their proposals/interests in the offer, but if you are more of the web designer type, then this may interest you.

Looking For A Job?

One of the cool things about Orkut is that you can use its various features to not only find new hobbies, products, lovers (the latter being very rare) but also new employment as well.

I decided to dip my head in the Jobs forum, and to my horror I discovered spammers were already targeting this community.

In order to help out users honestly seeking a job or career, here are some offers posted in the forum.

• .Net professional: We are looking for Asp,VB, .Net professionals with at least 2 years of experience. [...] Candidate would be sent to london for 1 month and will work with Top IT company project
  
  6 positions open, more details inside Orkut.


• Finance professional: We are looking for Finance professionals with at least 1 year of experience. [...] Willingness to relocate to NCR (note: where is NCR?)
  
  10 positions open, more details inside Orkut.


• Software Engineer: Candidate will be a part of very dynamic and highly skilled team. 3-5 yrs of experience required.
  Telecom Experience preferred but not required.
  
  Location: Chatsworth, CA
  
  More details inside Orkut. (same link as the one below)


• Business Analyst: 4 to 6 yeers of experience as Business Analyst. Financial, Banking experience preferred.
  .NET Technologies and Testing background is required.
  
  Location: Simi Valley, CA
  
  More details inside Orkut. (same link as the one above)


• Java job: 4-6 years of IT industry experiences as programmer or analyst. Good communication skills.
  
  Location: Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune [India]
  
  More details inside Orkut.


• .Net developer: Local company sees a .Net Developer for a long term contract in Memphis, TN USA. Position requires 3+ years experience with VB.Net, ASP.Net, and MS SQL Server. Must be a good team player.
  
  More details inside Orkut.


• Senior System Analyst: Local company seeks a Senior Systems Analyst / Internal Business Consultant for a permanent position in Memphis, TN USA.
  
  Position requires 3-5 yrs MRP/ERP experience; 2-3 years experience as a Programmer/Analyst; project management experience; or any combination of education and experience that provides the skills and abilities to perform the job.
  
  QAD MFG/PRO experience, supply chain experience, Progress 4GL experience, Unix, or Lean/Six Sigma experience are all pluses.
  
  More details inside Orkut.


• If you can not find anything above, there are almost a dozen other positions listed over here.

I'd like to thank Vissu, Poorni, Want a *USA JOB* and the various anonymous profiles for helping to contribute towards the economy by posting offerings on Orkut. Many of these were today, so if you are looking for a job in those fields (and are willing to relocate for them) then contact the people on the forums for more info.

Note: If you need an Orkut Invite, click here.

So, Are You Unemployed?

A new forum by Adith has appeared within Orkut. Simply called We-The unemployed, this forum's serves its members by (seemingly) laughing at their current status in life.

(Description) We r the ones who politicians say will get jobs ASAP...For cool people like us, jobs are sooooo uncool and boring...we are the ones who have so much time at our disposal that orkuting has become our profession...Welcome 2 WE-The Unemployed

Adith has already started a forum listing the benefits of being unemployed, while Tannu has started a thread listing everyone's previous area of expertise.

Note: I wonder if any of them have check out the Jobs forum, as there are several openings listed in the community.

Dear Entrepreneur, The Matrix Has You

No, I am not referring to The Matrix starring Keanu Reeves. I am referring to a post by Abhay over in the Entrepreneur forum in which he (along with others) have compiled "a matrix" or a mini-test to see if your business plan has what it takes to survive.

We have created an entrepreneurship matrix with following objective in mind

To create a system which helps entrepreneurs to measure clarity of business ideas and its execution plan. This is specially for ppl who are eager to become entrepreneur's but not clear how to start [...]

(from page 3) Entrepreneurship matrix is a set of Business components and its attribute, which is very essential for any business.

Here u can check whether your business idea is really workable on not based on clarity of your business idea w.r.t to different business attributes. All this explanation is done in 24 slide Power point presentation [...]

I have already downloaded it on my computer and it is not only virus free (for the cyber paranoid out there) but also very well written. I plan on using it personally for several projects of mine (no details here). I think it is an excellent tool for anyone considering not only starting their own business, but investing in one as well.

You can either post in the forum or scrap Abhay with your email address for more details.

A Short Film In The Works

Over in the Short Films community, Tejas is organizing a group to produce a short film.

We are gearing up for a short film. The script is ready. Lets put it on the table and discuss how can all people join. Please specify the job one can handle if a complete production, including pre-production, production and post-production is to be done!
Looking forward to work with you all!

Madhumitha (who claims to have won a short film award) is interested, with Vishal volunteering to do the music score and Javed seeking to handle the editing.

It will be interesting to see what this mini crew develops, as the quality of short films is a lot better today than it was in the past. Several examples of this are Star Trek and Star Wars which have launched some actors (and directors) into mini-stardom and increased their exposure.

Spots seem to be filling up fairly quickly, so if anyone is interested they can either post in the forum or contact Tejas directly.

Can Men Handle Female Bosses?

Although this topic is probably never brought up in the office, it is one that has been debated ever since women entered the office. From the Issues of Men forum.

Detox: Can men really accept a female in a dominating role such as a Boss or the President of the country ?? Can they really allow females to take decisions for them or is it just for show ??

While some may laugh at this question, some women may take it more seriously. Selina does, and complains that although guys think she is intelligent, they often do not listen to her advice.

Detox thinks women make better bosses while Mr. Hyde thinks they talk way too much. Faizan is under the impression that "a female can never be a good boss" which doesn't exactly make Salina smile.

Lilian, a female boss herself gives her own take on the issue.

With a more progressive approach to diversity and a greater number of women helming organisations, we feel comfortable enough to use our natural management style, which tends to be more communicative, relationship-oriented and team building in nature. [...] This gives Us the potential to be more understanding bosses than men. This is my point.

I have 8 persons under my supervision. 3 women, 5 men... and I have some problems with the girls. Its true that men are more straightforward. You always know where you stand with them. With women, you have to work them out a little more. Women tend to be more subtle and crafty. Men are straight out with it. I'd rather work only with men, they are breezier than women.

Interesting perspective. So does that mean guys make better workers and women better bosses?

Finding Customers Without SPAM

Steven asks an important business question over in the Sole Traders/Small Companies forum that all business owners (and self employed people like me) ask, or at least the good ones. How do I find more clients without SPAM?

(Note: SPAM in my opinion includes randomly cold calling the masses.)

Elena provides a great answer towards this by saying:

[...] I recommend reading the "Guerrilla Marketing" series by Jay Conrad Levinson. These books have a lot of great low-cost (or free) marketing ideas. I also suggest you do some market research of your own. For individuals who want to give up smoking, I think it might be harder, but maybe you could just get on the phone and call some potential retail clients?

Ask them what their needs are, whether they are already selling this product, etc. Maybe you could just walk into a health foods store and speak with the owner? The input of clients and potential clients will give you some ideas about how best to reach them.

Peter also reminds Steven that he could also email potential clients as long as he provides an introduction of himself as well as a disclaimer at the end with an "opt out" measure for future emails.

I also think Steven could use Orkut to contact potential clients, but for the sake of anti-redundancy, you'll have to see my answer over here.

A Cloning Business Anyone?

It looks like Sriharsha (over in the Bio Entrepreneurs world forum) wants to establish a future cloning business.

i just want to set up a genetic company.it should be dealing with human cloning. i know its banned in many countries.but cum on guys we have to explore the thins out and we can understand the truth of life only by this method. i think man should becum a bit more bold and try these things. so i'll start my own genetic company.

Although most of the reaction is positive, Prasoona (on page two) disagrees, citing that gene therapy and tissue regeneration techniques would be more effective.

They would also be more legal, as many nations have already passed laws against cloning, and many religions oppose its practice as well. If I were Sriharsha, I would seriously consider moving towards Antarctica and setting up shop there.

Islamic Banking Anyone?

This forum could prove useful--especially since I have some questions for some of my "Middle Eastern friends" who happen to follow Shariah law when it comes to investing, banking, etc.

More from the Islamic Banking and Finance forum:

Islamic Banking and Finance has emerged in recent decades as one of the most important trends in the financial world. There has always been a demand among Muslims for financial products and services that conform to the Shariah (Islamic law).

With the development of viable Islamic alternatives to conventional finance, Muslims are beginning to find Shariah compliant solutions to meet their financial needs.

The forum is moderated which is a good sign as trolls tend to avoid posting stupid questions that often cause arguments. Since I am in the financial services industry, perhaps they could answer some of my questions as Muslims tend to invest differently than other religious/ethnic groups.

Can I Get A Fair Trade?

This forum looks fairly interesting, and I love the overall concept of it. Check out their description:

Put your money where your morals are.

Fair Trade is a growing, international movement which ensures that producers in poor countries get a fair deal. This means a fair price for their goods, [...] long-term contracts which provide real security; and for many, support to gain the knowledge and skills that they need to develop their businesses and increase sales.

Within this forum their seem to be at least a couple of good discussion going with Sandra posting about the consequences of the Rainforest Alliance labeling food while Mats is looking for some fair trade clothing producers.

Are You Into Indian Art?

If so, Anish over in the Business in China forum has a proposition for you.

I am a business manager of IAP, India basically deals in selling paintings and arts of indian artists locally and oversees.. we are looking forward for expanding our business. Anyone interested in purchasing paintings and indian arts or for any kind of busienss dealing can mail me on

Note: Gmail signature added to thwart spammers.

Sounds pretty cool, although I wish he had some links displaying images of the art he intends to sell, as I have no clue what exactly is "Indian art."

Random thought: With all of the people selling items on Orkut, perhaps they should establish an "Ebay" like system in order to keep the server from dying periodically.

Taking Care Of Business...

Update: Added Community Photo.

Unfortunately I was out of town for the weekend (business reasons) so my daily enjoyment of snorkuting through the forums was cut short.

Speaking of business though, I came across this post in the International Business forum from Noor:

Whatever you need from china for your local market and for your industrial supplies. and for trade. We are the Group company we can supply you every thing.
main items are as follows.

1. fresh vegitables
2. fresh fruits.
3. all types of beans and cearels.
4. electronic Items including cell phones computers and home appliances.
5. industrial supplies (steel billets, almunium, copper, and all types of metals.)
6. screens for textile industry.
7. Textile fabrics and Clothes.( including undergarments, ladies wear, and mens wear.
8. Fresh and canned food.
9. Pan from Sirilanka Ceylone brand.
10. Dry fruits.

He has received one response thus far from Rizwan who is in need of cameras and medicine. It is fun watching business networking develop within Google's communities. I wonder if Google will consider taking advantage of the traffic and say, post Ad Sense within Orkut's pages?

Need Imports? (China)

Who says you can't network business on Google's Orkut? Apparently some users have in the Business in China forum (or at least are in the process of doing so).

(Peter) I am intested in importing Herbal Medication from China to UK - London and look for people based in China that would be interested in co-operation.

I need to find out various prices of herbal products in China. Please email me on [pfidelus (at) hotmail (dot) com] if you interested.

_______________

(Anderson) Hi man, I'm interested too, I want to bring chinese herbal medication to Brazil and develop a franchising. Nowaday's I'm living in Portugal but I got someome in China that can help us if you are relly interested.

Although the last post is less than 24 hours old, it would be interesting to see either business benefited from the contact. I'll try to do a follow up story later on about this (that makes two stories to write up on).