June 30th, 2009
Trainers have recently been asking how to download videos from YouTube. Why? Some trainers have their video hosted on the popular video-sharing site, but they don’t have the original source file.
Believe it or not, there is a simple, elegant solution. Easy YouTube Video Downloader makes downloading your YouTube video as simple as a click. You can download and install it and in seconds download your video as an FLV. Then upload your FLV file to TrainerView and your good to go.
We’re excited about this and hope that it helps you all as you improve and complete your profiles.
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June 15th, 2009
Recently, presenters have been asking about the best way to make a video. We are pleased to say an official “how-to-make-your-own-video” guide is in the works. We’ll keep you posted.
However, in doing our research, one TrainerView member had a great idea: PowerPoint. He said most of his clients are more interested in voice quality and speaking ability. Since we already have your photo on your profile, a PowerPoint presentation with your voice in the background would be a perfectly acceptable alternative for actual video footage.
How do you create a video from a PowerPoint presentation? The easiest way is to convert your PPT file to a Flash file. Several programs - Wondershare ($49) and iSpring (free) for example - do a great job converting PowerPoint to Flash, which you can upload as a video to your TrainerView your profile.
Why is this a good solution for trainers? Most trainers already have a PowerPoint presentation. It’s relatively easy to modify a presentation and add audio you can record through your computer microphone. It is definitely a quicker, more affordable alternative to setting up a video shoot or converting DVD video to digital video.
Let us know what you think of this idea.
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June 12th, 2009
We posed this question to our TrainerView Group on LinkedIn and received an insightful comment from Karen Arnold, owner of FutureDecisions. Because of the economy she has adjusted her business accordingly.
“Most of my presentations are around the changing workforce: 77 million Baby Boomers with 30 million eligible for Medicare within the next two years. I am pursuing speaking engagements regarding the need to handle employee decisions differently during this financial crisis. I am watching my state, California, laying off their young employees while their senior employees are retiring. When we turn this economy around, which we will, this state is going to be in a mess. We cannot solve this problem using the same thinking that created it.”
Hear, hear. And it’s educators like Karen, who can help companies train management to avoid these kinds of problems and come out ahead when the economy does turn around.
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May 18th, 2009
So yesterday we held our first-ever Video Boot Camp: 6 trainers, one videographer, and pizza. Everyone was filmed in a record-breaking 90 minutes. Not bad for the first round. What’s great is we definitely know we can invite more than six people to the next one. Register here if you’re interested in coming.
Check out our VBC photos on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125990&id=99948840970&ref=mf
Thanks again to the trainers, Gary Villaincour, Danny Hizami, Jeff Munjack, Jean Calasa, Joshua Stern, and Brian Bentow. Thanks to Solomon Rothman (and Brian) for their video-making magic. And thanks to all of our TrainerView Team members for your support.
Stay tuned! We’ll post links to our newest video profiles as they become available.
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May 13th, 2009
The Philadelphia Inquirer just posted an article about how networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter have graduated from Sunday socials to job seeking must-haves. One interviewee, Sharon Fredrickson from Sacramento, California, landed her job in two weeks using a combination of Facebook and LinkedIn. She would start friendships and “job-related” conversations by searching for and be-friending people who worked at the company that posted the job. Not only did she get the job, but she completely circumvented the normal HR process. What’s the point? Any tool - online or offline - used effectively will increase your chances of landing the perfect assignment. Have you posted your TrainerView profile yet?
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May 11th, 2009
The training community is filled with experts by default. It’s part of our trade, what we do.
So we’d like to hear from you. If you have tips or topics on any training-related subject, let us know. Email your topic and contact information to us at bmiller@trainerview.com. We’ll post your comments and credit them back to you. We’re also looking for regular posters to our blog. Email us if you’re interested.
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May 5th, 2009
You may (or may not) have noticed the blog hiatus. I think our last post was sometime around 1999 - it’s lost in the haze somewhere.
We’ve been busy, which is a gross understatement.
However, the site is open and ready for trainers and presenters to upload profiles. So please don’t hesitate. We’re still working out a few kinks on the client side - search, employer signup, video display. This is acceptable for now. While we are building our database of trainers, we won’t be reaching out to employers for the next couple of weeks. We’ll let you know when we do. In the meantime, let us know if you notice anything amiss.
Preparations for Video Boot Camp Los Angeles are under way. We knew some presenters needed a demo video. We also know a videographer who would like the work. So we’re opening up our conference room for a down and dirty video shoot on May 17. We’re only inviting 5 presenters to the first one. By the end of the day, they’ll get food and a professional demo video, which they can upload to TrainerView. Keeping it small will allow us to figure out the logistics for larger future VBCs. If you haven’t already, why not register to come? Your registration will put you in the queue and if we can’t fit you in this round, you’ll be first in line for the next one.
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March 1st, 2009
The balance between surviving now and investing in long-term success is not easy. When company revenue streams start to slow, companies tend to “batten down the hatches.” Pens are rationed. The water cooler goes dry. And most companies slash training budgets.
However, smart companies increase training. Why? Let’s discuss a few reasons.
You have the time
You may have trimmed as much staff as you can. What do you with the dedicated team you have left?
Train.
Now is the time to hone the skills of your best employees. They will be eager to learn and will apply the training. They know it increases their value to you at a time when many companies are cutting back. In addition, they may have more time to do it if business is slow. When business picks up, and even before that, you’ll have a smarter, well-trained workforce, better company morale, and increased productivity.
“But we can’t justify the cost”
What about your rivals? A downturn is the best (read cheapest) time to take the lead. If you can train your employees to improve sales effectiveness and work smarter to find new customers, you can take work from lazy rivals. Also, better-trained workers can demonstrate your business value in ways customers appreciate and will pay a premium for. As competition heats up, quality will play a big role in customer decisions.
For instance, my wife went to Office Max to buy paper for our laser printer. The sales person at the store went out of his way to help her. He explained how a heavier paper saves toner because the ink adheres better. He noted how cheaper paper absorbs more ink. She left with a more expensive purchase but felt smarter and more thrifty. Obviously, Office Max knows the value of training employees.
Happier workers equal happier customers
A business that appears successful will often be successful. Why is that? If customers interact with skilled employees who are pleasant and hard working, chances are they will continue dealing with that business. In addition, training enables employees to better satisfy customers who are more concerned than ever about not wasting time and money.
The benefits and cost-effectiveness of training may not be as obvious as cutting back on paper clips, but in the long run you and your business will come out ahead.
Tags: recession, training
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February 23rd, 2009
Up until a few weeks ago, SaaS was an unfamiliar term. I had seen it bandied about but never really bothered to define it. Until we met up with Zuora.
SaaS, more meaningfully known as “software as a service,” is my new favorite acronym. We’ve already installed Google’s Apps and Analytics. Now we’re in the midst of setting up Zuora, a new SaaS billing system designed specifically for subscription-based software services. These are all fabulous services; I just hadn’t realized they had been lumped together and abbreviated so sleekly.
Nicely done web people. Nicely done.
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February 21st, 2009
“The envelope please…and the winner is…” Here is Los Angeles, you can’t help but get caught up in Oscar spirit. It’s our city’s big bash and a lot of our friends have their livelihood tied up with who takes home the golden statuettes. Why am I telling you this?
Well, last week, we felt a little like budding actors and actresses hoping we heard our name called and could give our acceptance speech. We conducted user tests, the geeky web equivalent of a People’s Choice Award. How did we fare?
On the front end, great. People really liked the simplicity of design and wording of the homepage, how easy the registration process was, and the idea of the product. One tester was actually a trainer herself and was very excited about posting a real profile.
However, the tests were not without glitches, one of them major. The video and photo uploading are not fun. For a site whose main focus is a video profile, the uploading has to be seamless, fast, and (hopefully) elegant. One problem is when you upload, you can’t tell if anything is happening. It is. You just don’t see it. A 10MB video takes about 2 minutes to load on a fairly fast DSL connection. Considering the video is being compiled into a quick-playing Flash video, this is pretty snappy.
However, if you think nothing is happening, two minutes is an eternity. Each of our three tests failed to submit their profiles because it seemed the system had stopped working when they attempted to upload video. The good news: we think we’ve solved the problem. Once it’s implemented, we’ll test again and let you know the results.
Our big acceptance-speech thank-you’s go first to our idea-generators, designer, writer, pr guru and developers who’ve been hard at work making the dream a reality. Secondly, we’d like to thank usertesting.com. This service is such a great idea. If you need to test your site, use them. You will be amazed. It’s the kind of service we’d like to be: a smart idea executed well and extremely useful.
Tags: design, profile, trainerview, user testing, video uploading
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