Meet Earle Hart, hero to Job Seekers, and learn about Passport to Employment!
Earle was awarded the September Community Hero of the Month by Fox 59! Click Here to watch the full report!
Looking for a job in the Indianapolis area? A lot has changed in the past few years when it comes to your job search. It’s time to get connected to a premier resource. Go to Passport Now!
I didn’t catch it, but I really wish I had! As I’m continuing my job search, I often get home later in the evening from networking events. I take a back road to my home which includes a short drive by Wildcat Creek that is overgrown with trees, which forms a tunnel of sorts. It’s pretty cool to see. The last two evenings have been very dark, but a wonderful thing has occurred. As I rounded the corner, fireflies lit up the tunnel! I looked like a view into space.
It was what I needed. I love outdoors and I love nature. My job search has extended beyond my plans, so a refreshing view of something God made is just what I needed!
Maybe next time I’ll have a camera with me that can capture it to share!
Excellent summary of project management methodologies that doesn’t require an interpreter.
Tisk, Tisk, Let’s be Fair Kokomo Tribune…
I’m available and busy in a job search. Hands down the best thing I have done is to connect with Business and Professional Exchange North Central (BPE). I have been privileged to sit at the feet of and learn from Chris Waymire, Master Trainer. He has helped me connect with great people! Sometimes hearing information again from other point of view helps pull the pieces together. That happened for me today.
Recently at a BPE Panel Discussion, I met Mr. C. Bruce Flanagan. I knew of Mr. Flanagan from multiple references Mr. Waymire shared in class from his book, “It’s Not About You. It’s About Them”. The book is available on Amazon and there is a kindle version. I am pleased that I purchased the book. At the discussion, we agreed to have coffee, and that is how I got to spend some time learning from Mr. Flanagan today.
After he asked me a couple of questions, he made the following suggestions.
I’ve been in BPE with Mr. Waymire long enough that all of that was info I had heard in the past. Today, I was able to put the pieces together just a bit more. Special thanks to Mr. Waymire and to Mr. C. Bruce Flanagan for their efforts and time.
Looking for a job? Me too! There’s a LOT of help available! Know that it’s a full time job to find a job. In Indiana, let me URGE you to connect with Business and Professional Exchange. My chapter is BPE North Central. There are BPE chapters all over the state. If you aren’t in Indiana, find a comparable group!
The fine 
folks at Brooksource have a reputation for doing good stuff. I had the pleasure of meeting Justin Flynn and Paige Fehr at PMICIC’s Professional Day in the fall. I was really impressed with their professionalism in representing their company. I was very excited when Business and Professional Exchange (BPE) invited it’s membership to a networking meeting at the Keystone facility in Carmel. In addition to visiting with Just and Paige, I met Alison Agnew and Connor Killoren. I enjoyed reconnecting with Justin and Paige, and getting acquainted with Allison and Connor. These are top notch professionals who have a lot to offer in IT project support.
In addition to meeting Brooksource staff, I was in the room with the great people of BPE. It was great to reconnect with friends I have made over the past few months, who give their time to help others enter or re-enter the professional job market.
Brooksource gave a wonderful presentation not only about the company with tips on working with recruiters, but also an informative message on interviewing from the recruiter’s perspective. I always learn something at these events. 
Some of the info was exactly in sync with what we have been learning at BPE Northcentral. But there was also some new and helpful information and suggestions given.
The Q & A session was also helpful to me. My fellow BPE members and alumni asked very good questions and received beneficial info from Brooksource.
If you are in Indiana and seeking a professional career, let me highly recommend that you connect with BPE. There are chapters throughout the state. My chapter is BPE North Central covering Kokomo and Lafayette. There is real help available. It is the right place to go for help. Also, if you are looking to pursue an IT Position, IT Project Management or Development, contact one of the fine Brooksource folks listed above. They can help!
7 Lies Employers Use To Trick You Into Working For Them.
Thought provoking approach to looking at behavior interview questions. Not sure how realistic the approach is in an interview, but I thought it was a great read!
If you are interested in any workplace improvement of any kind in Indiana, you owe it to yourself to know about Wabash Valley Lean Network. I was introduced by Chris Waymire of Business & Professional Exchange North Central as a way to interact with forward thinkers in industry. I am so grateful for this opportunity. WVLN meets monthly (usually at SIA in Lafayette) to discuss the application of Lean principles in various environments. This is is always a beneficial experience! Notes from the speakers are posted on the WVLN site. Here is what I gained from the February 5, 2015 meeting.
Visual Management. Lean principles focus on 5S, or more broadly, visual management. It’s about how can you 
structure the workplace visually to eliminate the waste of redoing things. Rhonda Kovera of Visual Work Place Inc presented fabulous options for affordable and professional workplace visual management improvement. Much of this presentation was tailored for the manufacturing environment, however it has wide reaching application potential. I’ll have my eye on this was I proceed further into Project Management. In addition, Tim Martin of Martin & Bell Group, LLC presented a number of examples of visual management in the healthcare environment.
BraunAbility. I always learn something from talking to people at WVLN. There were several representatives from BraunAbility in attendance. I had a great conversation with John Lawrence about the company. He told me about the history and the mission of this great company whose wheel chair bound founder had to figure out how to get to work. Now BraunAbility manufactures wheelchair accessories for mini vans for people all over the country, right here in Winamac, Indiana.
If you are in
terested in learning more about the opportunities at WVLN, contact Pete Wagoner of Greater Lafayette Commerce.
Several years ago I sat on the sideline and watched two soccer coaches and a referee have it out on one of the field during a young elementary game. Colorful cards flew and blew. Us parental types watched a while until something else caught our attention. Both teams of kids, on their own, went to the other end of the field and started kicking the ball around. Long before the “adults” figured out their stuff, the kids figured out what to do with a lot of drama over NOTHING!
I’ve learned in my pursuits in project management, that connecting with and understanding the stakeholders of a project is not optional. It is crucial to the success of a project. The PM can only delegate to a point. He or she must deeply understand the expectations of all involved.
This floods my mind when I hear someone blame economic problems on teachers. Rare is the administrator that understands his or her staff, much less the politician that has a clue of “stakeholdership” other than the ballot box.
Melissa Hughes, Ph.D., explains what is really going on. Brief read that effectively covers a lot of ground. Check it out!
The Problem With Education is the Teachers | Melissa Hughes, Ph.D. | LinkedIn.
Dana Hall McCain wrote this article on imom.com: The Truth About Porn Moms Need to Know – iMom. Wonderful article that highlights staggering realities of our times. These truths about porn are disturbing, and yet we must deal with them.
Stand up comics, sitcoms, and some music (and some music award shows) preach that porn is normal and an expected part of life. Mix that up with the convenience of our technology and there is trouble in the making. Many students speak the language of technology better than their parents. Just as with so many other “keeping up with the Jones” things, we should provide high speed internet – and who would think of being so controlling and invasive as to monitor and regulate it. Besides, it’s a real pain.
This trouble in the making is that it’s more of a virus than an explosion. It shows itself in attitudes and preferences. The effects can hide for years, and later surface in time to melt the intimacy of marriage away, and then the family pays for the sickness. It normalizes not only behavior that is destructive and wrong, but holds as the standard – evil goals for the impressionable mind. And on top of that, it cradles the soul to the fantasized ever moving target of addiction.
Think putting safeguards around the Internet in your house is a pain? It is! Expensive? Yes. Never ending challenge? Yep. But think it compares to a lifelong struggle of breaking this addiction? Before deciding if it’s worth it, talk to someone who is in that place. Suddenly, the cost of avoidance is minuscule in comparison.
It’s not a fair fight! We can’t do nothing.
I recently encountered the work of Sardek Love. I reached out to him on LinkedIn and he immediately responded with kind willingness to help me on my journey. I couldn ‘t keep this info from my friends. I haven’t read the entire blog yet, but quickly ran upon an article that addresses one of my passions: communicating clearly. Check it out!
7 Question Types All Great Communicators Master | Infinity Consulting and Training Solutions.
Today at BPE in Fishers, Indiana, we had a delightful speaker. Brenda Johnson spoke on Success in Autumn. She shared wonderful tips on job seeking when you aren’t “as young” as you might wish to be. Her stories and her obvious care for the participants in the class were powerful. Below is a link to an excellent article on her blog!
Use this link to learn some good stuff the core of a project management. Authored by the staff at BCForward, a renown project management staffing company located in Indianapolis, Indiana.
December 16, 6:30p to 9:00p, free
I’ve had some huge wake up calls on Internet Safety. I’m kinda big into taking care of and protecting kids – even from themselves. I thought my kids and I could discuss our way through what we couldn’t filter. You have to understand, though, the fight for Internet safety for your kids IS NOT a fair fight. It’s Guerilla Warfare and curiosity doesn’t kill the cat fast enough. What parent wants their kids interacting with predators? I take it a step further, I don’t want my kids interacting with the world’s trash, even if it’s popular in culture or even if they want to.
It came together for me when I saw this post on Facebook & Twitter: 10 most dangerous apps for kids on Fox 59. This is a great piece. It behooves anyone with kids with devices / even school devices / to be very careful. So what’s a parent do with that info?
I’m a tech geek. We use technology in our home and I’ve provided wireless devices for my kids. Each student in our school has an iPad. At this point though, I’m wondering if they are really worth the headache. It is very difficult to effectively filter the Internet or to detect the decoy apps (apps that look like one thing but are something else). I’m finding that the school has some filters in place, but as far as monitoring, less than generally believed. I know that the most effective filter is to sit with your kids and watch their every activity online all the time – and who really can do that? The school doesn’t have the technological structure to send me a report of my kid’s activity on the school iPad (that’s really all I need, I can take it from there). I don’t even know that the architecture exists to do so. It hasn’t popped up on Google like most things do.
Speaking of Google, take their product – the well known YouTube for example – great resource of educational instruction and entertainment – great heap of stinky trash all mixed into one. I can block the web address, but can’t keep up with the multiple url addresses the YouTube App uses – and they are not readily available. Does YouTube have filters? Yes! But you must be signed into YouTube or Google for that part to work. You don’t have to be signed in to use the service.
I haven’t touched cellular Internet. We don’t have it for our kids for costs – and I don’t really know if there is anything to actually help parents who have it for their kids. Perhaps there is more available than I know of, but I thought that about web filtering at home and school.
I would like to hear more of what people think of this. I would like to team up with someone to help figure out a solution. A business case could be developed easily on this for most of us parents. If there is a solution short of building a commune, I’d like to hear about it. If not, is there anyone interested in helping me figure this out?
In my transition from ministry to project management, I was sure no one would really care. I can tell you that is just not true. I help bring about products, services, and results. I believe I am better positioned for this challenge than ever.
I knew my job was going to end almost a year before it did. I transitioned from the ministry to project management. I didn’t know what to expect but was hoping for a fast transition. But it hasn’t been… it has been a gradual transition.
You are not alone in a job search! There are tons of people who care about your success. I have been taking notes along the way. I want to share what I’ve learned so far with whomever it might benefit. My notes are published here:
I want to return the favor for the many who have helped me along the way in becoming PMP Certified. Project Management Institute’s Project Management Professional Certification has been around a long time. It is widely recognized and is global in nature.
I transitioned from the ministry to Project Management. I have been managing projects in the church environment for most of my career. Much of Project Management is about interpersonal relationship building skills — which is something I love. I wanted to add technical business skills to my toolbox, thus my journey with the PMP.
I passed recently, with a big sigh of relief. One of the most pleasant parts of the journey has been willingness and energy of the dozens of people along the way who have been encouraging and helpful. I wanted to return the favor, so I made notes along the way, and have posted them for whoever might benefit from them at Russell’s PMP Help.
At a Business and Professional Exchange meeting today, I met Dr. Skinner. She is a long time Kokomoan and has contributed highly to our community and to the Kokomo School system. She operates a special education childhood center I wanted to let you know about. I visited the center and it’s really cool!! Check this out!
Parents are the first teachers from birth until the child enters school. The Very Early Childhood Education Center located in the Inventrek Building wants to help you be your child’s best first teacher. The program is FREE!
The center is located in the Inventrek Building at 700 E. Firmin, Kokomo. It is room 208. They are open Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Give them a call at 457-0858 ext 219 or drop by for a visit during open hours. An adult (parent, grandparent, caregiver, etc.) must always be with and play with the child (ren). The program is appropriate for children birth to six years of age.
AND IT’S FREE!
Last Sunday, we were blessed to witness FOUR baptisms into Christ at Center Road. Cool Stuff!
MaynardOnline.net 