Rock your meetings

August 1, 2012 By admin

Meetings are a necessary evil to any work environment. And sometimes when people feel like they are stuck behind closed doors, they can’t stop thinking about their overflowing inbox or who commented on their latest Facebook picture. So what can you do to rock your next meeting and ensure that everyone involved leaves refreshed and informed?

Inc. dove into what makes a great meeting great and why some meetings just plain flat suck.

Here are a few note-worthy stats:

  • Engagement is 20% higher when the guests do most of the talking, rather than the presenter.
  • 15-minute meetings are 50% more successful than 45-plus-minute meetings
  • The longer the slide deck, the less likely it will be read when it is forwarded after the meeting. (If your deck is 40 or more slides, forget getting it read.)
  • Attendees may promise to forward the materials, but only do it 1 out of 7 times.

Interesting to see that longer doesn’t always mean more productive! So what can you do the next time you are leading (or attending) a meeting?

  1. Think Short
  2. Go Light on Handouts
  3. Collaborate
  4. Use the Ensemble Cast
  5. Follow Up

This article got us thinking about our meetings and if we are following these guidelines. We deployed Microsoft Lync internally earlier this year, and it really has made our meetings more collaborative and interactive. Because of the screen sharing capabilities, all meeting participants can view, edit and make changes to the presentation. This allows everyone to participate rather than just the presenter. Collaborate: CHECK!  Use the Ensemble Cast: CHECK!

Also with Lync you can eliminate the step of having the presenter forward you the materials after the meeting; they can share them during the presentation so everyone has an electronic version (also saves on paper!). Light on Handouts: CHECK! Follow Up: CHECK!

We definitely agree that there is a time and place for face-to-face meetings, especially when dealing with clients, potential clients, vendors and serious issues. But for certain internal purposes, Lync has changed the way we meet, especially if you need to schedule a quick impromptu meeting. Think Short: CHECK!

No matter what technology you use, just remember to keep your meetings short and to the point!

Check out this infographic for more statistics and interesting facts about meetings and participants.

Filed Under: Development, Microsoft Tagged With: , , , , ,

Enterhost employees behind the camera

May 22, 2012 By admin

When you think technology, images of photo shoots and the “glam” lifestyle don’t immediately come to mind. But at Enterhost we are anything but status quo.

Not only do we employ top-notch talent, but we hold our vendors to the same high standards. Last year we were fortunate enough to team up with top Dallas photographer, Vanessa Gavalya, during a Dell photo shoot. So when the opportunity came up to shoot head shots for our team, we immediately called Vanessa. Some of her major clients include Pizza Hut, Bank of America, Frito-Lay, Playskool and George Strait’s latest CD cover.

We all gathered at a shoot location near our 20,000 square foot data center in Fort Worth, Texas, where Enterhost is headquartered. After a lot of planning and coordinating shoot times, travel, catering and wardrobe, the day of the photo shoot finally arrived!

It seemed like a lot, but thanks to Vanessa and her producer Heather Warborg, we got everyone in and out ahead of schedule, the pictures looked amazing and we had a blast. Check out the Enterhost Facebook page our follow us on Twitter (@Enterhost) to see behind the scenes photos.

It was exciting to have nearly all of us in the same place at the same time. At Enterhost, we use Lync for all office communication (phone, instant messaging, conferencing, etc.) and it has transformed how we work and allowed us to stay connected. But as great as Lync is, nothing beats shaking someone’s hand or sitting around telling stories over a drink. It’s a true testament to our office synergy when we all packed in to one of our favorite local Mexican restaurants for an after photo shoot celebration.  I’m proud to work for a company whose employees enjoy each other’s company outside of work. And we aren’t just tooting our own horn. Vanessa sent us a note commenting on how lucky we are to work with such a fun group!

A huge thank you goes out to Vanessa and her team for working with us. A great photographer knows things like lighting and camera lenses, but an amazing photographer gets to know the people they are shooting, makes them feel comfortable and helps them look their best.  And thank you to all of our awesome employees. You helped the day run smoothly and provided plenty of laughs.

-Carissa Cotner, Marketing Coordinator

Filed Under: Development Tagged With: , , , , ,

Success means being different from the rest of the pack

May 15, 2012 By admin

A while back we saw a great article about how service providers must play the game: “Differentiate or Die.” It really got us thinking. It’s our job as the marketing “gurus” to make sure the Enterhost message is told in a tangible and unique way so our current and potential clients really grasp who we are and what we do. We are not in a well-known industry such as law or medicine where when people ask us what we do we have a user-friendly response. We’ve learned that our elevator speeches can require at least 50+ floors of ride time before they get what we do. It makes it really difficult when you have to not only explain the industry, but what separates you from the pack.

We hear these from our current and potential clients daily. “I want this device to talk to this and that to connect to that. I want it to work everywhere. And I want it cheap.”  Businesses constantly approach us wanting to use the cloud, whose surrounding hype has positioned it as a quick, easy, cure-all solution that allows you to access your data from any device.  However, the cloud is not a silver bullet for every business’ IT woes.  Any IT solution needs to be customized for your specific business needs and properly implemented by an industry expert.

The most difficult barrier we face is convincing people what separates one hosting company from another or what the cloud really means because it has been blurred by the media. There is also the stipulation of “outsourcing” anything. It’s become a common and often negative word. But once we get passed all that and we are left with the question, “Why Enterhost?” we find that we have a lot to say. Here are just a few.

  1. Top-notch team. We don’t just hire any ole tech, we hire support staff with 4-year college degrees and extensive certifications. We hire sales professionals to handle sales, marketing professionals to handle marketing and seasoned accounting professionals to handle our finances. We don’t do what a lot of hosting companies do which is slotting IT people into various positions around the company. A physician’s office wouldn’t hire a doctor to handle their marketing.
  2. Extensive capabilities all under one roof. We have our own 20,000 square foot data center to handle all of your hosting needs.
  3. We don’t look at ourselves like “outsourced IT.” We immerse ourselves into your business so much that we become an extension of your team.
  4. Exceptional, professional customer service. Our attention to detail really sets us apart from our competition. We know this because we hear positive feedback constantly from our clients.
  5. Constant communication with our clients and always striving to bring them the latest and greatest technological advancements. Enterhost is breaking barriers with Microsoft Lync in addition to finding new ways to communicate with clients and potential customers. Fortunately, we got a head start by hiring a full-time marketing staff, but we continue to be active through blogging, social media, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Ultimately, we understand how critical our client’s operations are, no matter how many employees they have. This respect for their business operations in addition to our attention to detail is what sets Enterhost apart and keeps our clients happy. And we know that in an industry where you have to “Differentiate or Die,” we aren’t going anywhere.

Filed Under: Cloud, Datacenter, Development, Microsoft Tagged With: , , , , , , ,