After seeing Panic’s status board, I couldn’t help myself.  This was such a fantastic idea that I had to create one for CWS headquarters.  I knew that we probably wouldn’t have enough data to do anything nearly as informative as Panic’s but I still had a handful of things that would make my life a ton easier to see on 1 window.  This resides on a 24″ Acer LCD above my dual monitor setup.

Using the amazing project management platform, 5PM, I was able to pull all sorts of information necessary to create our project management status board pieces.  I love seeing when my people add a new progress note or if the “Other CWS Tasks” list gets cut in half.  I know stuff is being accomplished.

CWS Status Board Items

• Tasks assigned to me (via 5PM)
• Tasks assigned to others (via 5pm)
• Progress bars for tasks (via 5pm)
• Events in the next 7 days (via Google Calendar)
• Current time since we don’t have a clock (PHP)
• Current weather and tomorrow’s forecast (Yahoo Weather)
• RSS feeds for Digg, Lifehacker,  Smashing Mag, and Web Designer Depot (probably counter-productive)

…

As always this post is long overdue but it would be quite relevant to a lot of people out there in need of inspiration in this tough time.  I have been fortunate enough to attend a few conferences and listen to a LOT of great speakers.   From designers to developers and freelancers to entrepreneurs I have picked up a wealth of knowledge just listening to them speak for an hour or so.

A couple weeks ago Gary Vaynerchuk (Host of Wine Library TV and super inspirational young speaker, @garyvee on Twitter) posted a link to his talk at the Big Omaha conference on his Twitter stream.  It was about an hour and the majority of it Q&A but after listening to it during my lunch break I felt refreshed and that I could take on any project and was itching to get back to work.  This is not the first great talk from a conference that I have seen on a Twitter stream.  I also follow Tim Ferriss (author or 4 Hour Work Week, @tferriss) and he always…

After reading the 4 Hour Work Week, I wanted to experience a mini-retirement.  This was obviously going to be impossible with the way Connected Web Solutions functions but I thought why can’t I have a mini-retirement where I can still get work accomplished?  And so, here I am living in Costa Rica for 3 weeks running the business as though I were at home.  This is not the easiest thing in the world in terms of meeting with clients and potential clients but in terms of development and maintenance it has been perfect.  Communication has been fine thanks to some tools I would like to mention.

1. Skype
2. Syncplicity
3. Google Chat
4. Blackberry (As a modem)
5. Thunderbird
6. WordPress

Skype – Since before CWS was founded in 2006 we were using Skype.  Skype is a free VOIP solution to speak to other Skype users for free.  Skype also has a multitude of services that CWS takes advantage of.  SkypeIn associates your Skype account with an actual phone number that anyone can call.  For about $30 a year and and an additional $3 a month to make unlimited calls to and receive from the US.  This is perfect for CWS considering…

I would like to mention the importance of conferences for someone in the web/tech world here in this post. I was fortunate enough to attend South-by-Southwest (SXSW) last year and had an unbelievable experience. I was able to listen to the big-wigs of the industry speak at various panels and key-notes. I was even lucky enough to speak personally with Tim Ferriss (4 Hour Work Week, author), Frank Warren (Post Secret, creator) and Tony Hsieh (Zappos.com, CEO). The most important and beneficial parts of the conference were the time between the lectures and panels. I was able to meet, network, and speak with so many different kinds of people surrounding, not only the web world, but film and music people as well. I was able to relate to them with similar interests in anything from running a company to how the new Nokia cell phone could stream live video to the web. I was also fortunate enough to bump into a college classmate of mine, Rob Sandie, that turned out to be…

CWS has clients spread throughout the northeast. A certain one of these clients is about 100 miles away. We provide them with office hours twice a week which ends up being about 6 hours of driving weekly…without traffic. Regardless of how much music is on your iPod you can only sing Britney Spears hits for so long.

Here is where podcasting has completely changed my life and my business. I have found a podcast for almost every facet of my life and business. So if you find yourself stuck in a boring commute, download some of these podcasts. From current web design news to reviews of the latest indy movies and upcoming videogame releases…you can find what you want from one of these.

Boag World

THE BEST WEB DESIGN PODCAST! I wish I found this before I started my company. Hosts, Paul Boag & Marcus Lillington, have a vast knowledge of the web industry and business. Running a web design firm, writing contracts, getting more work as a freelancer, conferences, being a pop-star in the 80s, etc. That list could go on forever. Thanks to their recommendation I attended the SXSW conference…