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What is Simple Contact Management?

For many people, contact management involves writing names on scraps of paper and Post-It notes or creating a record in Microsoft Outlook about a person or organization. If a group of people need to share contact information, they may start by creating a spreadsheet and sharing it, but pretty soon they will discover that these approaches have severe limitations. Post-It notes get lost, most Outlook contact lists are not shared and a shared spreadsheet can only be updated by one person at a time.

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What is Project Contact Management?

Podium On-Demand, a web-based "Software-as-a-Service" offering from The Socrates Group is a simple but powerful tool for managing projects. It is much simpler than full-blown project management systems like Microsoft Project, but much more than a tool for managing a list of tasks, like Microsoft Outlook. But what exactly is Project Management?

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Podium Customization

There are many ways Podium can be customized to the specific needs of a business. User-defined fields can be configured for both people and organizations. Many of Podium's behaviors can be configured by simply changing application settings using tools built into Podium.

Podium's menus can also be completely customized using the Security tool build into Podium. Many of Podium's tools also alter their behavior based upon the "capabilities" granted to users. For example, users with "Edit Person" can alter a person's record, while users who have only "View Person" capabilities can see, but not alter information about a person. Capabilities are also managed with the Security tool.

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Main Feature: Sword of Damocles
"Judge no one happy until his life is over" is a familiar theme in Greek and Roman philosophical writing. The modern day equivalent might be "to walk a mile in his shoes". Just where did that idea come from?

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Customer Profile: Barlean's Organic Oils
Barleans Organic Oils knows a thing or two about deficiencies. Research suggests that 8 out of 10 Americans are deficient in essential Omega-3 fatty acids, according to Barlean's web site. Since 1989 Barlean's has been producing and distributing flax seed oil and fish oil in an ongoing battle to close that gap. There are historical precedents, of course... by the 8th century A.D., it is said that Charlemagne decreed that all citizens must daily consume flax seed to maintain health.

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Employee Feature: "Bob, I need to talk to you"
When your sales and marketing manager pops in on a cold and snowy day with these chilling words it can't be very good news. The economic downturn has already created a challenging business environment, and the last thing anyone would want is a monkey wrench thrown into a smooth running sales and marketing operation. Introducing Shelly Varner...

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IT Tips and Tricks: When Does Excel Not
Microsoft Excel is a wonderful tool. It descends from the Lineage of Lotus 1-2-3 and VisiCalc. Spreadsheets were such a revolutionary idea back in the early 1980's that they became the compelling reason for buying a computer. It was the discovery by one of Microsoft's developers of how to put the Intel 386 into virtual memory mode that enabled Windows 3.0 to support very large spreadsheets. Since then, use of Excel has become ubiquitous. Anybody who uses computers has probably created at least one spreadsheet. In many cases, Excel has become the hammer and every business information management problem looks like a nail. Over the years, I have seen Excel used to run businesses large and small. Locally, I know of a client that used Excel to track all of their inventory and orders. And guess what. It drove them nuts.

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Upcoming Events:
Classes and events for Business Professionals in Whatcom and Skagit counties.

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Main Feature: The Gordian Knot
We've all heard the term "Gordian Knot", but have you ever wondered about the origins of this particular saying?

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Employee Feature: Matthew Anderson
From dishwashing to software consulting - the unlikely career path of Matthew Anderson

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IT Tips and Tricks - MS Access: The Swiss Army knife of databases
Thinking of using Microsoft Access to manage business data? You might want to consider the future before you begin.

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Customer Profile: ProPack Systems
ProPack is a leader in Third Party Logistics. Learn how The Socrates Group helped ProPack implement a tracking and invoicing system that effected great cost savings and streamlined their business.

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Upcoming Events:
Classes and events for Business Professionals in Whatcom and Skagit counties.

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