Yesterday Computer World posted and update to the 2009 data breach that had already cost BlueCross Blue Shield of Tennessee nearly $17 million, now has added another $1.5 million to be paid to the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services for a HIPAA violation related to the breach. read more »

Last night I attended this meeting where they guest speaker was a Sports Psychologist; in fact, she deals with extreme sport athletes. What she shared over the next 15-20 minutes was a reminder of why it is important to set goals and have the right mindset.
Most people have heard of S.M.A.R.T. goals and the acronyms often take on a slight difference. For this session they stood for S-specific, M-measurable, A-attainable, R-rewarding, and T-trackable or timely. We must all set goals. Write them down and journal our progress, if we really expect to obtain them. read more »

Great article in CFO World regarding corporate data breaches and how company CFOs and CIOs must work together to prevent security risks. Three major “headline grabbing” breaches included Sony, TJ Maxx, and Hannaford supermarkets. Each knows from experience how costly a breach can be to a company. These are big name companies, but don’t think that smaller businesses are exempt, because they are not. Today hackers know that there is likely often more opportunity with smaller businesses, than larger ones. Frankly, smaller companies are often easier targets. read more »

Networking strikes fear in people almost as much as visiting the dentist! However, for each of us to grow our network both personally and professional it is absolutely necessary. I have found it very interesting at times to find out someone I needed to meet was only few degrees of separation from me. By keeping it simple, I find that there is far less stress in networking and fewer things to remember. Here are five key points that help. read more »

Often gaining new business depends on your involvement in an industry, association, group or community. So, how can you make the most of what is out there?

Companies want to spend resources (time and money) where they can get the most return. This means groups where they have common values, interests, goals and objectives and where they can be stimulated intellectually in order to improve themselves and their business.  read more »