Casual Drinks – networking event for software professionals

If you are going to be in the Silicon Valley area on Thursday, March 26th come join us for Casual Drinks, a networking event aimed at software professionals within the Valley. The event is hosted by Avangate (eCommerce and solutions provider for software distribution). If you are a software publisher or provide services to the space, Avangate invites you to come join us and meet your peers.

Why you should attend?

• Networking with key people from Software & eCommerce Industry
  
• Get valuable business contacts
  
• Happy Thursday: Drinks & Fun
  
• Meet the Avangate Team

The event is free and is being hosted at Don Giovanni’s restaurant on Castro Street in Mountain View. We encourage you to come join us and please feel free to invite your friends!

See you there? RSVP online.

P.S. Pictures from the previous edition.

YouTube introduces Google Ads on videos

Welcome to disagreement (by Dale Carnegie)

Remember the slogan, "When two partners always agree, one of them is not necessary." If there is some point you haven't thought about, be thankful if it is brought to your attention. Perhaps this disagreement is your opportunity to be corrected before you make a serious mistake.

DISTRUST YOUR FIRST INSTINCTIVE IMPRESSION: Our first natural reaction in a disagreeable situation is to be defensive. Be careful. Keep calm and watch out for your first reaction. It may be you at your worst, not your best.

CONTROL YOUR TEMPER: Remember, you can measure the size and stature of a person by what makes him or her angry.

LISTEN FIRST: Give your opponents a chance to talk. Let them finish. Do not resist, defend or debate. This only raises barriers. Try to build bridges of understanding. Don't build higher barriers of misunderstanding.

LOOK FOR AREAS OF AGREEMENT: When you have heard your opponents out, dwell first on the points and areas on which you agree.

BE HONEST: Look for areas where you can admit errors and say so. Apologize for your mistakes. It will help disarm your opponents and reduce defensiveness.

PROMISE TO THINK OVER YOUR OPPONENTS'S IDEAS AND STUDY THEM CAREFULLY: And mean it. Your opponents may be right. It is a lot easier at this stage to agree to think about their points than to move rapidly ahead and find yourself in a position where you feel yourself or your opponents can say: "We tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen."

THANKS YOUR OPPONENTS SINCERELY FOR THEIR INTEREST: Anyone who takes the time to disagree with you is interested in the same things you are. Think of them as people who really want to help you or your cause, and it is possible that you may find true friends in your opponents and true friendship in their intents despite the difference of opinions.

POSTPONE ACTION TO GIVE BOTH SIDES TIME TO THINK THROUGH THE PROBLEM: Suggest that a new meeting be held later that day or the next day, when all facts may be brought to bear. In preparation for the meeting, ask yourself some hard questions:
1. Could my opponents be right ? Partly right ?
2. Is there truth or merit in their position or argument ?
3. Is my reaction one that will relieve the problem, or will it just relieve any frustration ?
4. Will my reaction drive my opponents further away or draw them closer to me ?
5. Will my reaction elevate the estimation good people have of me ?
6. Will I win or lose ? What price will I have to pay if I win ?
7. If I am quiet about it, will the disagreement blow over ?
8. Is this difficult situation an opportunity for me and my leadership qualities ?

Be a leader. Be a reference.

Today I was convinced once again that Einstein was right; everything is relative. But this is not all – the most amazing thing is that if you can create and control this relativity, then you will become a reference point; and my friends, that’s a guaranteed success.

Take a break and start looking how many reference points you are using on a daily basis in your life, in your business and, most important, in your decisions.

“Microsoft built a very popular operating system”
“Toyota is building the most reliable cars”
“This product is much cheaper in China”

Sounds familiar? How many times a day you are thinking or hear statements like that? Microsoft, Toyota, China - all of these are reference points. If you can enforce yourself to be a reference point in life and business then you will lead and achieve your dreams. I am serious!

One of the past days I was talking to a guy that asked me where I am from. After I told him I am from Europe he asked me how much costs the things out there. More of that, he asked me if I know what are the prices in China! What does that mean? It means that the price suddenly became a reference point for this guy and he is ready to buy products from a specific market because it’s cheaper. If the economy was good maybe the reference point for the price was limited to the United States; after this guy was forced to look for alternatives he made a search over the Internet and his horizons were expanded overseas.

Stop copying the competition and look to become a reference point for others!

How is the software channel coping with the crisis

Avangate is doing a survey on how the crisis is impacting the channel distribution in the software industry. If you are:

• an ISV using a partner network or
• a reseller in the software industry,

take our brief survey and become part of the study – find out how your own challenges and solutions regarding the channel compare with those of your peers. Read more here: http://blog.avangate.com/software-channel-crisis/

THANK YOU!

Economic crisis vs. Sex

I just noticed today that a quick search on Google for “economic crisis” returns over 64 million results; in the same time, a search for “sex” returns 80 million results.

Is the crisis about to dominate the world as sex does it for thousands of years?

Windows Vista Sidebar - Radio gadget

During this weekend I had to work a lot and I realized at one point that is very quiet around me. My music library is played so many times that I had the feeling that I need something new.

I opened Windows Vista Gallery looking for some entertainment. After a quick search I found exactly what i was looking for: Online Radio 2.0. The installation was piece of cake; I have clicked the download button and that’s it :)

Now, my working hours are accompanied by various music that is helping me to concentrate to my job. Sometime we need some things to fill in the missing parts of our busy life...