I had the pleasure of attending The Game Developers’ Conference (GDC) in early March. It was such a pleasure to see the excitement and energy over the promise of what is to come in 2012 and beyond. The topics of the sessions were varied, with a huge focus on growth management, HTML5, mobile games and of course, best practices. 

My favorite session was one on best practices. Although the actual title of the seminar was “Designing a Technology Strategy for a Large Publisher” given by Julien Merceron, Worldwide Technology Director of Square Enix … do not judge a seminar by its title!

Mr. Merceron was a dynamic speaker and I took away his core thoughts to share with my staff and to share with you, as I believe his “best practices” can cross over to any industry or any business.

• Pick your Battles: All companies and departments will have competing interests at times. Know the level of your resources and pick the battles you can win. Time is never on your side.
• Find Partners: Find partners to work with on big initiatives to maximize your abilities and grow. You will learn from your partners, and you will learn from the experience.
• Outsource: Look at outsourcing solutions to enhance your offerings and research outsourcing companies before making any decisions to ensure the best fit for you and your goals.
• Tools: Invest in whatever tools are necessary to make your teams as efficient as possible. Tools may be expensive, but the efficiency will make your organization stronger. Make sure these tools are team friendly and make sure to keep away from single points of failure: the tendency of having one person with too much knowledge in one area, and no redundancy of that knowledge within the team. More than one person should always know how to do any one critical process.
• Knowledge Management: Choose now how to address your on line presence and strategy moving forward to ensure it is not managing you. This presence is critical and game changing.
• Essential Strengths: Know your essential strengths. Ask yourself, what are you great at? Focus your energy on these essential elements to grow!

Mr. Merceron also had vital thoughts on how organizations and teams should regularly meet to have “best practices sharing,” among other strategic discussions. He reiterated that that changes do not happen in a day and, if you empower your teams, you will reap the benefits and rewards. Over all, it was a powerful message that I hope I did not diminish by paraphrasing his insightful thoughts.

Let’s all move forward, know our strengths, pick our battle and grow.

PsiNapse Technology wishes you a great 2012!

Connect. Collaborate. Achieve

The latest economic reports describe the economy as “good, but not great.” How will you set yourself apart from other career seekers in a highly competitive employment climate? Social media, in combination with your current job-searching techniques, may be the answer.

Businesses of all disciplines are in a constant campaign to locate and hire the right talent at the right time. A commitment to ensuring that diversity is reflected in the makeup of staff can add a layer of complexity when introduced into the hiring process. Simple actions can be taken to streamline and simplify the diversity hiring and retention process.

On December 9’th, the PsiNapse team donated our morning in support of the Alameda County Community Food Bank.  This was aligned with one of PsiNapse's core values of being involved in the community and giving back whenever and wherever possible.  We preceded this by placing a Food Bank donation drum in our building lobby.  See Darci's article on a Holiday Food Drive 2011 for more information.

One of the core values that PsiNapse holds is being involved in the community and giving back whenever and wherever possible.  One way that we stay involved and show our appreciation for what we have is by giving of our time and resources to community-based charities.  This year, as in years past, we are doing our part to support the Alameda County Community Food Bank.

Returning to the workplace after an extended absence is a challenge many career seekers face.  There may be apprehension that your resume will be overlooked when a break in service is apparent, and a lengthy absence from the workforce may seem like an insurmountable challenge.

Positions are becoming increasingly competitive as more people apply for the limited openings available.   Hiring authorities review three times as many resumes as they once did for openings and some are experiencing “resume burnout,” due to the sheer volume of resumes they must review.   In this situation,  resumes can be discounted and discarded more quickly than in years past.  Instead of finding reasons to keep a resume in the pool of potential applicants, resumes are being reviewed and set aside more quickly as not suitable due to the information on the resume itself.  

San Francisco has many ordinances all employers must comply with, including staffing and consulting services that do not have offices in San Francisco but place contract or temporary staff in the city of San Francisco.

The GDC (Game Developers Conference) was a great opportunity to get an idea of what is happening in the industry, network with great people and learn more about Electronic Entertainment.   I thought the energy this year was very positive, and the event  seemed larger than both 2010 and 2009.   I attended several sessions with my Director of Staffing, Nicole Foster.  My favorite session: “The Japanese Market as a leading indicator 10 lessons from 20 years as an entrepreneur.”  

Nicole Foster and I took the opportunity to try new places during our three day adventure at the Games Developers Conference (GDC)…and we had a blast!

On Wednesday we visited Annabelle’s on 4^th Street for a taste of old world San Francisco Dining.   The staff was efficient and friendly, and although the waiter mentioned that the cook was in a bad mood that day (???)  we had a wonderful meal.   We were seated right by the window and the day was cold and rainy outside, which set off the warm fragrant inside, giving  an  immediate feel of comfort.    They start you off with the most wonderful little butter rolls with rock salt on top.  These rolls are absolutely wonderful and unique.  The serving is two each and that is a good thing as they are very rich and nice and warm.   For lunch I had the Cioppino with grilled bread and Nicole had the Salmon with Grilled Lettuce.   The Cioppino is excellent.   The tomato shrimp broth is just the right amount of spicy and the soup is chock full of salmon, clams, mussels and crab.   Although I was pining for more butter rolls the grilled bread was perfect with this stew.   Nicole had the Salmon and Grilled Lettuce with polenta and the Salmon was cooked perfectly.  The polenta was very cheesy but according to Nicole very good.  The grilled lettuce is apparently more of an acquired taste but visually set the dish off nicely.