If you’re not a fan of bacon, and really I’m not sure there is such a person, then you might want to skip to another article.  If, however, you understand how scrumptious bacon can be, then by all means, read on.

Frying your bacon to perfection is easy using a pan since you constantly monitor its progress. Oh sure, anyone who has ever cooked bacon in a frying pan or on a grill knows about the splatter factor and sometimes it’s down right messy.  For those who have less time to monitor bacon to perfection or just don’t like the splatter factor of a frying pan may have used the standard bacon tray for a microwave.  This is good too but is harder to get bacon to a perfect point be that floppy or crispy or somewhere in between.

Several years ago my dad began looking for a better way to cook bacon.  His quest was to locate a product that better collected the bacon grease during the

Mak'n Bacon

cooking process.  He eventually purchased a Mak’n Bacon bacon cooker, which worked so well that he bought two more.  My dad loves the Mak’n Bacon because the bacon is hung on posts that allows the grease to drip into a pan as it cooks  He uses it almost daily.

Aside from grease collection, one of the best features of this particular bacon cooker is that it stores fairly flat as compared to some other models that have been tested and rejected.  The Mak’n Bacon cooker is used in any standard microwave and can cook up to a pound of bacon.  I must say that putting a pound of bacon in the microwave, setting the time, and then removing it without having to blot the excess grease off the bacon is a real bonus.

So I was seriously contemplating buying a Mak’n Bacon cooker when a Bacon Genie showed up at my house.  Apparently I needed a bacon cooker more desperately than I realized.

Bacon Genie

Nonetheless, the Bacon Genie bacon cooker is similar to the aforementioned Mak’n Bacon because it is a microwave cooker where the bacon is hung on a post and the grease collects below it.  The Bacon Genie, however, has a pour spout so that offloading the grease is actually very easy.  It’s a nice feature.  Unfortunately, there is no way you can put a pound of bacon on the Bacon Genie — a half pound maybe.

So, which one gets my vote?  Actually, I’d use either one of these products any day.  And any day that I’m working from home is a day that I try to have a big breakfast that just might include bacon.  And as for my friend Phil, well might just have to make sure he’s got a Mak’n Bacon or Bacon Genie.

Alycia Maier-Turner is the Director of Marketing for Copper Conferencing, a leading provider of webinars and conference calling services for small to medium sized businesses.  Alycia loves to try new things as trying someting often leads to great conversation.

To say that I don’t want his, or anyone else’s, illness is an understatement.  I would prefer that those who are infectious stay home.  And, in light of the H1N1 flu outbreak, it might be prudent for some of the health to stay at home too.    Here’s a vote for telecommuting.

In a recently released H1N1 study of cadets at the Air Force Academy, the revelation that as many as 19% of those confirmed with H1N1 continued to emit the virus for 24 hours or more after their fever and symptoms were gone.  The findings were reported in American Journal of Preventive Medicine. (Source:  www.emaxhealth.com)

I’ve worked in many offices where the sick came to work and where, although many of the sick employees could have worked from home thereby sparing those of us who were still healthy, management felt that it was better the sick employees were in the office working than at home working.  When sick employees go to the office, it puts the entire office at risk of developing illness – not just those that work in the same department or sit next to the sick person.  Another vote for telecommuting.

So when your employees are feeling the onset of illness and are likely to be the most infectious, give them permission and encouragement to telecommute.   Most office jobs can be done in a telecommuting environment, and web meetings and phone conferences make being productive while at home much easier.

So if you haven’t already given thought to how your office will function if hit hard by H1N1 flu or other illness, do it now.  Think about what your employees will need to work from home and give them the tools to do so before they call in sick or drag themselves to the office with a fever or hacking cough.

To learn more about Copper Conferencing’s web and audio conferencing services, contact a Conference Coach today at sales@copperconferencing.com or call 866.903.7521

Believe it or not, even in Atlanta, we had a lot of connections to New York that day.  Marlene’s daughter Heather had her long-time boyfriend on his second day in his first job at Morgan Stanley report into work on the 65th floor of one of the towers.  We couldn’t reach him as we saw the tower fall.  Our key vendor, Raindance had all their executives in New York AND Washington, DC.  It was unbelievable.

Heather’s boyfriend made it out just in time and the Raindance people made it back to Denver intact.  9/11 changed the way our company saw the relevance of our conferencing business and the conferencing industry forever.  People who had never conferenced, called up and asked for accounts.  They stayed home.  They found new ways to engage with each other without jumping on an airplane.

Why did this come to the front of my mind?  No matter what the catalyst is that keeps us at home, we’ve got to think about how to do business without jumping on an airplane.  I already said I was going to travel less.  I really mean it.  I’m really good at meeting over a conference call and I’m going to make sure other people get way better at it.

When I look people up on Twitter, I’ll see them talk about how much they HATE being on a conference call.  Come on people, it’s not that hard and we all need to get way better at doing it.

Follow Copper Conferencing on Twitter @CopperConf or visit our website at http://www.copperconferencing.com

Here is why I’m going to cut back.  There are plenty of stupid people that get on airplanes.  I have to deal with them about half the time because I’m fortunate enough for Delta to upgrade me to First Class.  But there are going to be a lot more people that get on the airplane sick.

Unless you travel a lot, you probably are not aware that the air in the plane recirculates all the time.  Someone sneezes all over the place in row 40, seat G, and you get their germs, even if you’re in First Class.  Now, I already said I haven’t had the flu in as long as I can remember – at least 20+ years.  I just think this may be my year so I’m going to use the full range of our technology and hang out in Atlanta for a while.  The Denver guys may be relieved.  I do suck the air out of the room when I’m around!

Follow Copper Conferencing on Twitter @CopperConf or visit our website at http://www.copperconferencing.com

Here’s what Copper Conferencing is going to do to prepare.  First, everyone needs to be prepared to work virtually.  That means they take their laptop home every day, have a way to take phone calls, reply to emails and do business from home.  If they feel the slightest symptoms of swine flu, they need to stay home until they feel worse or it goes away and they feel better.

We’re lucky because we’re a conferencing company.  We do most all of our sales calls using our web conferencing tools.  We have offices across the country, so we’re used to virtual meetings and have them every week anyway.  It’s not unusual for us to have a conference call when some of our people are just down the hall.  They’re very effective to hold an efficient meeting.

We’re a small company and we’re going to make sure we plan for this business contingency just like it was any other disaster like a hurricane or no gasoline (like in Atlanta last summer).  We’re very good at conferencing and we’re going to get very good at being ready to be all virtual at the drop of a hat.

Follow Copper Conferencing on Twitter @CopperConf or visit our website at http://www.copperconferencing.com

According to the CDC, “…the 2009 H1N1 influenza viruses and regular seasonal influenza may spread at the same time. It’s possible that a lot more people will get sick this season than normally occurs during a regular flu season. There also may be more people hospitalized and more deaths this season than during a normal flu season.”

Now, I’m started to get a lot more worried.  School kids and college kids cram into classrooms and they can’t wash their hands often enough to keep the virus at bay.  As a business owner, I know these kids come home and spread the virus to their moms and dads who then go to work with a few aches and pains and spread the virus in the office.  We just had a mom who had strep throat who got it from her daughter.  I’m holding my breath that the rest of the office doesn’t catch it.  It takes 24 hours to become non-contagious from strep……it takes about a week or more with swine flue.

We have the potential for a lot of people to have to stay home from work.  Parents need to take care of their kids and they better figure out that they need to take care of themselves. I don’t think the economy can take another blow, especially from a flu bug.

We’re thinking through how to help our customers that use us for audio conferencing and webinars to make sure they can still do business, even though employees are sidelined. Seems simple enough, right?  You need to do a meeting, do it virtually so people don’t sneeze on each other and pass the H1N1 virus around.  I’m going to give some more thought to how to help people think this out before it becomes a bigger problem than it needs to be.

The same can be said for doing a web conference.  Okay, maybe not in your car, but anywhere Wi-Fi is available is a place from which you can host a web meeting.

In fact, many people I know host internet meetings from their favorite coffee shops or restaurants.  I asked some of our Conference Coaches and employees what their favorite locations were for working remotely or for hosting internet meetings.  Here are their favorites:

• Kathleen, Director of Customer Care: Starbucks at 2035 Towne Lake Parkway, Woodstock, GA (770) 592-5529
• Brittany, Conference Coach: Yogoday at 124 Barrett Pkwy, Marietta, GA (770) 795-1522 and any Starbucks
• Amanda, Marketing Clairvoyant: Orchard Town Center at  14697 Delaware Street, Suite 850, Westminster, CO 303-450-8600
• Tim, Web Guru: Panera Bread at 302 Center Drive, Superior, CO (720) 304-7000
• Brent, Conference Coach: Borders Bookstore at 605 Ernest W Barrett Parkway NW, Kennesaw, GA (678) 581-1243 and Starbucks at Barrett Pkwy & Barrett Lakes Blvd 815 Barrett Parkway, Kennesaw, GA 770-427-0159
• Alycia, Director of Marketing: Alexander’s Pizza at 849 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA (619) 435-5747

So, the next time you’re out and about and need to do a teleconference or a web conference, just remember that your local coffee shop, bookstore or favorite restaurant might be just the place to do it.

Have questions about Copper Conferencing or need to do an audio conference or web meeting?  Contact a Conference Coach today.

In recent years the number of telecommuters rose sharply due to advances in technology.  In addition, the number of home-based workers has been estimated to double over the last decade.

While I am fortunate enough to join the masses, working from home poses a different set of challenges than commuting to an office.  If you work from home or you are considering working from home, you are likely to face obstacles similar to those that I have encountered.   Working from home takes discipline.  The following 10 steps will help make you more productive and efficient while working from a home office:

1. Shower and get dressed!  Start the day as if you were going to the office.  It mentally prepares you for the day.
2. Eat breakfast.  If you start the day off hungry, you will graze all day and procrastinate.
3. Establish a routine. Routine helps create a plan and process for the day.
4. Establish working hours for a start and end time to your day and set boundaries with family members to avoid interruptions.
5. Have a designated work place that resembles an office – a work phone line, a computer, a nice desk and comfortable chair – invest in your work place.  Keep the area clean and organized. Working in a bedroom, family room or common area causes distraction.  The “home office” needs to be a place that is specifically for work.
6. Working from home can make you feel isolated – you are not able to run to the next cube to say, hey, I have a question.  Invest in web/audio conferencing, turn on IM and have office land-lines forwarded to your cell phone.  This will increase efficiency and allow for co-worker interaction.
7. Take a break each day and get out of the house.  Go to the store for a grocery run, walk the dog or work out.  All employees need a break to stay productive – working from home is no different.  Take advantage of the flexibility to work from home, but keep breaks to 45 minutes to an hour to avoid distraction.
8. Depending on how often you work from home socialization can be compromised – plan a lunch break with a friend or work at a coffee shop for a few hours.
9. If you have children, arrange for care.  You can NOT work at home with young children unless a nanny is present.  If you have in-home care, I recommend having the home office separate from the main play area.
10. Keep the TV off and the window blinds open during the day – natural light goes a long way!

Now that you’ve read my 10 tips, I have one more.  If you’re serious about telecommuting, make sure you have the right tools to help you be productive.  For me, phone meetings and web conferences make telecommuting a much more efficient and pleasant experience.  Copper Conferencing provides a great combination of audio and web conferencing services to help you plan your phone meetings and webinars most efficiently.

So, from my home office to yours…good luck and I hope the above 10 tips set you up for success.

About Conference Coach Sarah
Sarah Deatherage is the Channel Partner Manager at Copper Conferencing.  Sarah has been working in the conferencing industry for over 10 years and has developed many relationships with agents over her career.

Have questions about Copper Conferencing or need to do an audio conference or web meeting?  Contact a Conference Coach today.

With the large influx of potential candidates into the market and the continued contraction of job supply, it has become essential for many companies to cut hiring costs while at the same time maintaining high quality controls within the hiring process.

Web conferencing technologies offered by Copper Conferencing have created an efficient communication channel in many different markets allowing users to organize and “meet” subtracting the high monetary and time costs commonly found in air or ground travel. For HR departments, this means that an internet meeting may serve as an initial interview or screening. For hiring managers, the use of web conferencing as a hiring tool means that an internet meeting may replace an intial phone meeting or may serve as the primary interview if a candidate is located elsewhere. As web conferencing technology matures and market adoption broadens, it is only natural for its purpose to evolve and encompass new venues like hiring.

Hiring as a process has maintained a certain straight-line approach in recent history. The resume and the cover letter, a phone interview and then a meeting in person are the unquestionable norms. But there is much to be gained in time and effort through the application of web conferencing. Let’s imagine being able to schedule and interview multiple applicants without drastically affecting your work flow thereby creating face time in an environment that allows you to share documents, images, and more. Internet conferencing allows human resources and hiring managers to break the old-style candidate screening cycle and usher in a new era of interviewing with all the bells and whistles of modern life by using web conferencng.

Web conferencing’s effect in hiring not only relies on its ability to increase efficiencies, but to also help to broaden the talent pool by removing geographical restraints. With 9.1 million visitors at Careerbuilder.com alone in December 2008, it becomes clear that talent is out there and it’s not just in your backyard. So through the technologies of web conferencing, hiring managers and HR professionals can meet with high caliber individuals from one ocean to the other without skipping a beat.

As with all new uses of current technology, there are always obstacles to overcome and web conferencing as a hiring tool is not impenetrable. Web cams have come down in price but are still not a “must-have” item and unemployed individuals might be reluctant to fork out the cash on a chance. Furthermore, individuals might feel uncomfortable interacting through a camera and speakers and may not present their best effort.

With the mainstream adoption of broadband Internet and the acceptance of web-based communication as a valid medium, it only seems natural that hiring will find a purpose within web conferencing. Not only are companies hiring able to find efficiencies and broaden the talent pool, but they are also able begin the process of aclimating new employees in the ever-changing terrain of business communication.

Many companies are geographically diverse and more employees are working from home. Having op centers and employees all over the country can be a boost to your business. Conferencing makes telecommuting possible. Conference calls and web meetings are great tools to meet remotely and get business done.

When setting up a conference call or web meeting, make sure you include different time zones in the meeting invitation. This will decrease any confusion and make your call run smoother.