The Circuit is the IT Assoc. Since 1994

The Circuit, since 1994, is the information Technology association for the Greater Cincinnati tri-state region, including Northern Kentucky and Southeastern Indiana. The Circuit a non-profit created to enhance the development of technology related companies and institutions on the greater Cincinnati area.

An initiative of The Circuit is C-CAP (www.c-cap.net). C-Cap is a resource hub designed to link entrepreneurs with angel investors and the other resources they need to create successful growth companies. Our mission is to increase the number of growth companies that receive seed capital funding from Cincinnati area angels.

The Circuit is the local IT Association since 1994. Its CIO Circle consists of more than 50 members, 36 of whom participated in this year’s survey, designed as part of a 2011-12 Senior IS Project Team of the Williams College of Business at Xavier University.  

For the third-consecutive year, CIO members ranked “implementing new operational and management systems and software to address business challenges” as top priority, while finding and maintain the right skills and staff and introducing new technologies ranked second and third, respectively.  Not surprisingly, two-thirds of Greater Cincinnati’s senior IT officers are considering deploying iPads and other new mobile devices in their businesses this year. 

For more survey information, please read James Ritchie's article in the Business Courier.

Plus, for details on membership in the non-vendor CIO Circle, please contact connie@thecircuit.net.  

Kate Salyers, Your Social Status, did an amazing job discussing social media tips and things to consider in our online presence.  One thing Kate emphasized is that not all medias are good for our companies.  Maybe Twitter isn't providing a ROI, Facebook, etc.  However, she did say that LinkedIn should be the first choice to get our feet wet and begin to utilize for ourselves and our businesses. 

Cleverly, Kate's presentation broke down the word "Monster" so it was a painless attack for our audience.  For example, M = multi-tasking with Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, or Twhirl.org were suggested.  Kate posted her PowerPoint presentation via SlideShare at the bottom of her LinkedIn profile, so be sure to review for some great content information.

The Timeline essentially replaces what we called the “Wall,” and is accessed when you click on your name in the upper right corner of the page when you log into Facebook.

If your business strategy includes using your personal Facebook profile to connect to customers (and there are many good reasons why it should) then you need to use your Facebook Timeline to tell a story.

There are four key parts to the Timeline that will help you tell your story:

1. Using the Subscribe button,
2. Adding a great Cover photo,
3. Crafting your About page, and
4. Adding activity and Life Events to your Timeline.

Let’s take a look at each of these four more closely … Read Article by Andrea Vahl

I had to share this article on not 1, but 50 tech tools to impress even the slightest techie reader.  Alfred?  Have you tried it? Neither have I, but it was a TIME Magazine's App of the Week.  Enjoy the article by Victor Hernandez, CNN.

PowerNet Global’s “Love Your Neighbor” Tablet Program was created to bring communities together and give every child an equal opportunity for a greater education. The “Love Your Neighbor” program asks businesses and churches within a local community to purchase PowerNet Global tablets and/or telecom services to help fund PowerNet Global’s school tablet program.

The Circuit today announced that Peak 10 has signed a two‐year sponsorship agreement, which will allow the IT association to offer quarterly networking throughout 2012 and 2013. Peak 10, a managed services and cloud provider with world‐class data centers, has been a title sponsor of The Circuit CIO Circle for the past several years. As a result of the new sponsorship agreement, Peak 10 will become a title sponsor for a variety of local events, including the monthly Breakfast BYTES and the annual CEO CIO Forum.

“We have seen a great return on our previous sponsorship investment, and The Circuit’s longevity and reputation in Cincinnati are among the many reasons why we have decided to enhance our partnership with the association,” said Ernest Leffler, general manager of Peak 10 Cincinnati. “Stability and reliability are two of the key characteristics that our customers look for in a managed services and data center partner, and those are the characteristics that also apply to The Circuit. In that sense, this is an ideal partnership that will allow us to offer even more networking opportunities to strengthen the local IT community.”

“We are constantly asked, ‘When is the next beer or wine tasting?’, but we rely on sponsors to host these popular events,” said Jim Cunningham, president of The Circuit and Executive Director of C‐CAP. “Peak 10 has been a strong supporter of The Circuit and its new sponsorship commitment means that we will be able to offer these events every quarter in 2012 and 2013. We have created a diversified sponsorship package that will provide broad exposure to Peak 10 and promote the SW Ohio area and our strong IT presence. We appreciate Peak 10’s support and look forward to working with them to make our events engaging and memorable.”

Entire Press Release

Crystal Thies is the LinkedIn Ninja and will be presented to The Circuit on January 20th during the Regional Entrepreneur Forum.  You'll want to be sure to register for her very popular session www.thecircuit.net! 

Read Crystal's post to learn the solution to Why You Shouldn't Use Twitter to Post LinkedIn Status Updates.

Crystal says, "There are a lot of people on LinkedIn who don’t have Twitter accounts, so you’ve essentially eliminated their ability to help you get the word out and to share your information with their network." 

Kim Jehn-Harp discussed how relieving stress through organization can make us more productive, happy and responsive.  She took a snippet from the WORK SMART, Not Hard! workshop for The Circuit's program. 

The attendees shared some of their own tools to manage work.  One used a Google calendar which allowed her to block out sections of time for projections, Salesforce.com was used and Solve 360 was mentioned, too.

Great sharing of information!